Something Better Than Chocolate
by Sparrow Love7
Summary: Anne is a big writer for the Salisbury Times and her boss gives her a mission to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. The story: What it's like to live with Wonka and Charlie in the mysterious factory. The twist: Anne falls in love with Willy Wonka.
1. The Big Story

_I'm already writing a couple stories right now and am just starting this one very randomly. I thought of some ideas and I hope that I can get some readers for this! This story is more based off the movie, so please go along with it! Thanks and enjoy!_

The Big Story

Anne Gavigan walked through her office building, her light, brown hair patting gently against her shoulders. As she passed by, every head turned to follow her, watching her brisk walk towards the office of the head chief, Patrick Stewart. In Anne's hand, she was holding her small briefcase, holding one of the greatest stories she had ever written in her life. Her brown eyes were alive with excitement as she pushed through the door of the head office.

"Patrick, I have brought you…" she plopped her briefcase down on the wooden desk. "…_the _story you have been waiting for."

Her boss, a man of early thirty's, was looking up at her with complete boredom on his face. He sighed and went back to the papers that were lying on his desk. "I'm sorry, Anne, but the last time you came in here with the so-called _heartwarming story _you created on the eve before the meeting of the century, gave no warmth to my heart. So, forgive me when I decline on reading that little story of yours there."

Anne sighed and sat down on the seat across from Patrick's desk. "Please, Patrick, I promise you that this one is good." She crossed her legs and the blue pencil skirt she was wearing tightened across her legs. "I worked on it for four hours last night and I guarantee that it is top notch."

He sighed and lay down the papers on his desk to look at her. "Anne," he said, leaning forward with his hands grasped together. She looked at him with stern eyes. Patrick continued, "Forgive me for saying this, but I have every right to fire you right here and now."

Anne gasped and put her back against the chair. "You wouldn't dare."

"I would!" he said with pride. "This is the second time you have been late to work because of writing another one of those weak stories of yours."

"Weak?!"

Patrick held his hand up and Anne immediately silenced. His voice was quiet as he spoke. "Anne, I run a top notch newspaper here in this town of ours. It is my duty to see to the inhabitants of Salisbury, England that they get what they want in their everyday papers."

"I understand that, but…"

He held his hand up again. "You are one of my best here and you know that." He stood up and turned towards the window facing the streets below. "It just seems that your work lacks…" Patrick turned towards her. "…emotion."

Anne scoffed. "Emotion? Just last week I wrote about the child that grew up with unloving parents and it had plenty of emotion in it."

Patrick was sitting back in his desk. "You're right…it included emotion from the dear child. But there was nothing from you. All I read was a long biography and you, yourself had nothing to feel from it."

"Well, of course I didn't," Anne said laughing. "I know nothing of the child; I just wrote a story about him."

"And right there is what you're missing. I need to feel emotion from you. I need to feel that you're gaining something from what you're writing." He sighed. "I need to feel that you absolutely understand the subject that you're writing about."

Anne just sat there, at a total loss for words. Patrick shook his head and stood up. "I have a mission for you, Anne."

She stared at him. "A mission?"

"I'm sending you to Leamington, a small town about three hours away from here. I'm sure you've heard of the town before."

A light bulb went off in Anne's head. "It's where that boy lives…the one that won the Willy Wonka challenge." She looked up at Patrick. "And what am I sent there for?"

Patrick smiled. "You are sent there to live with Willy Wonka and the boy." He was grasping the chair, grinning down at Anne in pure excitement. When he realized she wasn't smiling, his grin faded and he stood up straight. "Why do you not seem excited about all this?"

Anne shook her head. "It just seems…odd, doesn't it? You're saying that you want more emotion in my work and you expect me to redeem myself in that department by living with complete strangers?"

He shook his head. "This story will be different…unique. All of our readers will get to hear the exciting and dramatic tale of your life in the never-dying chocolate factory. It will be a hit!"

"And how long do you expect me to stay there for?"

He shrugged. "Until you've got enough for a full story. Couple of pages to fill the paper."

Anne was still shaking her head, looking at him in shock. "I can't believe you want me to do this. Do you know what I've heard about Willy Wonka? I heard that he's a complete…loony. People say that he talks to himself and says strange comments all the time; and you want me to live with him?"

Patrick just stared at her, nodding and smiling. "You will learn about the factory: find wondrous things that people have dreamt to see, know secrets of the recipes, and learn about the mysterious inventor."

"How will I get invited to stay?"

Patrick stopped his speech. "Excuse me?"

"How am I going to get inside? Wonka won't just let me in for fun. I have to get in for a good enough reason."

Anne's boss started pacing the room. "You're right. Wonka is very protective of his work. He'll never let a stranger inside his factory without a valid reason."

Anne stood up from her chair. "I could say I'm an old relative of Charlie's."

"I'm sure Charlie will make sure of that through his immediate family. No, it has to convince Wonka more than anything." Patrick suddenly stopped walking and held a finger in the air. His light eyes were bright and he turned towards Anne. "Pretend to be ill."

"Ill? How will that work?"

Patrick began to pace again. "Well, it doesn't have to be ill; hurt…maybe. You could…pretend to fall down, start a coughing fit, and Wonka will _have _to let you inside to rest."

"Patrick, what if things go wrong? What if he can't hear me or see me from the factory? Then, how am I going to get inside?"

"Oh…it will work. Make sure he hears you, Anne, otherwise you will be in for a rough night."

"So, this is it. This is the story you want me to do?"

He turned towards her and walked around the desk. "No, Anne, I don't want you to do this story." Patrick grabbed her hands. "_You _want you to do this story. If this story does not have any of the emotion that I _am _expecting, I have no other choice but to fire you."

"Fire me?" Anne asked with fear.

"Yes…fire you." He hesitated. "So, get a bus tonight." He let go and sat back down at his desk. Anne stood there for a moment, wondering what to do with herself. Patrick looked back up at her. "Go on! I haven't got all day…and neither have you."

Anne jumped, grabbed her briefcase, and walked as fast as she could out of the office building. _"This is going to be a long trip," _she thought to herself as she walked the streets to her apartment.

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"I can't believe you're leaving tonight!"

"I know," Anne groaned, shutting her suitcase.

Anne and her best friend, Julie were sitting in Anne's room, putting together all the things Anne needed for her stay in Leamington. The lavender room was clean and simple, just like Anne.

"I'm _so _jealous though. You get to see the factory that everyone is _dying _to see," Julie said.

Julie was a truly pretty girl. When you first looked at her, she struck you as a model. Her height and hard look helped her in that department. She looked very commercial at times, which gave her the difficulty of trying to find a modeling job. When Anne had first met her, she did not immediately notice her looks, but after getting to know her and listen to her, Julie had suddenly become much more attractive.

Anne laughed and put her suitcase beside her bed. "I wish you could come with me. Then, I might actually find something to do while I'm there."

"I'm sure you'll find something to do. I hear there are more than one thousand rooms in the chocolate factory."

"Well, I'll soon find out." Anne sighed and plopped down on the bed beside Julie, who was drinking a large glass of wine. "I'm too old to be doing this story."

Julie looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…I'm thirty-four. I shouldn't be writing about a chocolate factory that is the figment of every child's dream. I should be writing about politics, war, or even about romance. Not this…"

Julie ran her fingers through her friend's dark hair. "You know what I think, Anne?" Anne grunted and Julie continued to talk. "I think that you can write any story and make it sound as good as you want it to be."

Anne sat up and looked her friend in the eye. "Do you really mean that?"

Julie smiled and her dazzling teeth showed. "Of course I do."

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"Excuse me? Do you know if this is the bus to Leamington?" Anne asked a man leaning against the bus.

The man grunted and pointed up to the bus. Anne looked and saw a digital sign that showed the words "Leamington" on it. She turned to the man with a "thanks" and then walked up the stairs to the bus.

Anne had prepared all of last night for her trip to the famous chocolate factory. Her bag was packed to the brim and she had brought every piece of equipment from the office. _"Let's just hope that Mr. Wonka doesn't see any of this and gets suspicious." _

She finally found a seat and sat down closest to the window. It was necessary for her to see the countryside as they drove; otherwise there would be no doubt of getting motion sickness.

A small boy took the seat right next to her and gave her a small smile. Anne smiled sweetly back and watched him as he took a book out of his bag. On the cover was none other than the chocolate factory. Its tall towers and smoking chambers gave Anne a feeling of emptiness. The boy saw her looking and she held her hand up. "Sorry, I'm just looking."

The boy with the ginger hair smiled at her again. "It's no trouble, miss." He went back to reading his book.

"How old are you?" Anne suddenly asked.

The boy looked a little taken aback and stood up straighter. "I'm nine…why?"

"Just wondering. You look about the same age as the boy who won the Willy Wonka challenge?"

The boy nodded. "We're about the same."

Anne felt the need to reach for her tape recorder sitting in her suitcase. "And what do you have to say about the winning child? Are you jealous of his win?"

His eyes lightened up. "I'd say! My mum spent two of her paychecks to get me and my sister more Wonka bars."

Anne laughed. "That's pretty generous of her."

He nodded. "But, I'm glad Charlie won. I heard that he was a nice person." The boy looked up at her. "I'm John by the way."

"I'm Anne." She held out her hand and shook the small hand. "What's in that book of yours?"

John looked down at the cover. "It's the story of Willy Wonka and how he got the factory together."

Anne's eyes shone with curiosity. "After you're done reading your part, would you mind letting me read a little of it?"

"Not at all, miss."

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"This stop…Leamington," the digital, female voice said at the bus's front.

Both Anne and John stood up to walk down the aisle off the bus.

The last half hour, Anne had read and read on Willy Wonka to learn about his history. There were many informative things in the book, even though it had been sweetened down for a good children's story: Willy Wonka as a child, his quest to become a chocolateer, secret recipes, and small sweet shops to the enormous chocolate factory, his betraying workers, and the new ones that took over. Anne suddenly felt much more confident as she stepped off the bus onto the Leamington sidewalk.

"It was very nice meeting you, miss," John said from behind her.

Anne turned around and smiled. "And the same to you. Thanks for letting me borrow that book of yours."

"My pleasure, miss." He hoisted his small backpack over his shoulders and walked away down the stoned street.

Anne looked around at the other fluttering passengers and walked away from the bus. The town was quite small, but had a beautiful downtown area. The streets were cobbled and lined with streetlamps. The setting sun shone against the shop windows and Anne felt a feeling of comfort.

Suddenly, her eyes caught a large gate in the distance. Anne focused her eyes and finally saw what she had been searching for.

The chocolate factory was towering and smoking against the cloudy sky. She felt chills rise up her arms as she stared at the huge landscape where Wonka and the boy were living right at that moment.

Anne took a deep breath and started to walk, not towards the chocolate factory, but towards a small pub on the corner of the street. She stepped through the doors and felt a great ease of warmth as the night air vanished off her skin.

The pub was almost completely empty. Two men sat at the bar and the one barman was cleaning out a cup with a filthy rag. Right as she entered, they had all turned their heads to look. She smiled, but could sense the desire in the men's eyes as she took her seat at the bar.

"Could I please have a glass of water?" Anne asked politely.

"Are you sure that's all you want, miss?" the wheezy old man asked.

"Quite sure, thank you." The man smiled and walked towards the other end of the bar.

Anne slowly turned her head to look at the men beside her and saw that they were both staring at her with hungry grins on their faces. She quickly snapped her head back and pretended to fumble with her briefcase.

One of the men's chairs slid back from the bar and she heard him step out of it. He slowly walked towards her and rested his elbow against the bar. He reeked of liquor and trash and stared at Anne in the face. "How ya doin, little missy?"

"Quite fine," Anne said shortly, and resumed to fumbling with her suitcase.

"I don't think I've ever seen you here before. You come from Leamington?"

"No, I came here to visit a friend." She immediately cursed herself for not saying 'boyfriend.'

"Ah, well isn't that exciting?" the man said with a hoarse laugh. He slid a stool over and put it right against hers. "Knew you couldn't be from here."

"How did you know that?"

"Never seen such a pretty lady before. I had to reckon you were from some big town far away from here. That's where all the pretty ladies are from."

"Well, you were wrong. I come from a pretty small town…just like this one."

The other drunken man laughed, but the one beside her continued to talk. "Why don't you stop fiddling with that suitcase and talk to me?"

"I'd rather not; thank you." Suddenly, her glass of water was sitting in front of her and she reached towards it.

Right as she held the glass up to her lips, the man lifted up her skirt and touched her leg. "Come on, stop being so…"

Anne's reflexes shot at her and she threw the water into the man's face and stood up from her stool. The man swore loudly and started to rub his eyes while his friend laughed right in his face.

Anne grabbed her suitcase and thanked the barman before walking back out into the cool, night air.

The streetlamps were lightened now and few stars lit the dark sky. She took a deep breath to calm her shaking hands and started to walk away from the pub. _"I should have known that the men here would be scum. I have to get away from that one before he finds me."_

Anne crossed the street and looked in at the shop windows. There were candy shops, book stores, clothing stores, and much more. She smiled at the cuteness of it all and resumed her window shopping.

It was about a half an hour later when Anne finished looking in at all the shops. She sighed and leaned against the glass of one window. _"How am I going to get inside that factory?"_ she asked, looking up at building in the distance.

All of a sudden, a lightning bolt pierced the sky and thunder broke the still night. Anne gasped from the sudden noise and raindrop landed right on her nose. "Oh, great," she groaned. The rain started to come down harder and Anne started to run down the street.

The first store she got to, she grasped on the handle and pulled. It stayed shut. "What?!" Anne yelled. She desperately pulled again, but the door remained shut.

The rain was now pouring onto her and she was completely soaked through. Her hair clung to her face and she could feel her makeup running down her cheeks. "Oh no!" she cried as she tried opening a second door.

Anne ran into the middle of the street, looking left and right. "How can every store be closed?

Her suitcase slipped from her hands and her clothes went flying out. "Shit!" she cried. She knelt down on her hands and knees and quickly stuffed her wet clothes back into her suitcase. Luckily nothing was too soaked through and stood up again, holding tightly onto her bag.

Anne looked up and saw one man walking slowly down the street, his head bowed down. Anne's heart leapt and she walked quickly towards the man. "Excuse me?" The man resumed walking. "Excuse me?" She was right in front of him and he had to stop. "Excuse me…do you think you…could…?"

Her heart stopped as she looked into the face of the man she had thrown her drink at. A grin broke across his face and he looked her up and down. "Well well well…look what we've got here."

Anne turned and started to walk away, but the man grabbed her arm. She gasped and looked him in the face. "Let me go!" she cried out.

"No…I don't think I will." The man started to laugh and Anne tried as hard as she could to get away from him. He just kept on laughing and, once again, put his hand on her leg.

"No!" Anne cried out. She swung her suitcase as hard as she could and hit the man across the face.

He cried out and immediately let go of her. Anne ran. Her high heels were falling off her feet as she slid down the cobbled street. She didn't care where she was going; she just tried to get as far away from the man as possible. Tears were now running down her face and she called out random cries of help. She could hear the man running behind her, calling out words. The rain drowned them out and Anne just kept running as fast as she could.

Suddenly, there it was. The gates to the chocolate factory. Anne gasped and made way for it. The man was still chasing her, now calling out, "I'm gonna get you for this!"

She looked behind and saw that he was almost on her. _"If I cry loud enough, Mr. Wonka will have to hear me." _She had no shoes on now as she skidded against the metal gate. "Help me! Please, I need someone's help!"

The man jumped on Anne. She screamed and they both fell to the ground. He was on top of her, looking down at her with a smile. His face was bloody from the hit of the suitcase. Tears were streaming down Anne's face as she stared up into the man's scruffy face. "Please…please…"

Her arms were pinned to the ground and he slowly took off her stockings. She had no strength to do anything to the man. He was about to take advantage of her and she just lay there, admitting him to herself.

Out of nowhere, there was a slight creaking and Anne turned her head. The gates of the factory were slowly opening and she could see a man walking through the rain towards them.

The man on top of her cursed and jumped off of her. Before running away, he looked down at her and said, "You're lucky, miss. Very lucky." He laughed and Anne could hear the sound of his shoes clicking on the cobbled stones.

Anne was numb and couldn't even feel the rain on her skin anymore. She lay on the street, her stockings pulled down to her knees and her arms still lying where they had been pinned.

"Um…miss?"

She looked up into the face of a man. His face was pale and his features were large. The hair on his head was perfectly cupped against his cheeks. The fear in his brown eyes made her feel even weaker. She stared up at him, entirely emotionless. The man was holding an umbrella and was now holding it over her. "Oh…dear…" he said nervously, looking down at her stockings.

Anne groaned and let her head fall to the side. She heard the man struggling with what to do. He finally called, "Charlie! Charlie, please come here!"

A couple seconds later, a second voice was talking. "Willy, what happened?" a small child asked.

"Not sure, Charlie, but I need you to take this umbrella and her suitcase. It's right there beside her."

"We're going to take her inside?"

"Of course." Hands suddenly touched her and she cried out.

"No! No! Don't touch me! Don't you dare!"

The man was kneeling next to her and he shushed her. "Don't worry…don't worry. I won't hurt you." Anne suddenly trusted the man beside her and let her hands fall back down on her side.

The man tentatively put one of his hands underneath her back and the other on the underside of her knees. With surprising strength, the man picked Anne up and turned towards the factory. Anne could see the small boy running through the doors with her suitcase and the umbrella.

The man that was holding her was warm and Anne nuzzled her head against his chest. The comfort immediately made her feel relaxed and she suddenly passed out.

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Anne was warm and covered in sheets. Her bare legs were twisted around the woolen blankets and her head was resting against a soft, feather pillow. Her eyes slowly opened and she was looking through a hole in a roof. Memories of the night before finally got her to sit up and look around at her surroundings.

The small boy from the previous night was sleeping in a bed beside hers. She suddenly recognized him as Charlie Bucket, the boy who won the Willy Wonka challenge.

Anne slid her legs out from under the sheets and stood up. She was in a completely different setup: a nightgown with pink flowers etched on it. Suddenly, she heard a sink turn on.

She looked down and saw that the boy's room was open to the entire house. There was one room below, which involved a kitchen, a bedroom, and a living room. A large bed lay in the center, where four elderly people were sleeping. In the corner was a television, which was currently off. Anne looked at the sink and saw a short woman, with curly, black hair washing dishes.

The woman was wearing a raggedy dress with a yellow apron tied around her. Her eyes were dark, but had softness around the edges. The cheekbones on her face were high and gave her the look of a very, loving mother.

Anne smiled down at her and realized that it must have been her that gave Anne the nightdress. Anne passed Charlie in the bed and slowly climbed down the wooden ladder that led to the downstairs.

Right as her feet touched the floor, Charlie's mother looked up from the sink. She smiled and walked towards Anne. "Are you alright, dear? You had a rather rough night last night, didn't you?"

Anne nodded and the woman looked down at her nervously. "I hope you didn't mind that I had you changed. The clothes you were in were absolutely soaked through."

"That's fine," Anne said in a hoarse voice. She cleared her throat. "Sorry, I must be getting sick."

"That's no surprise. You were lying in the rain for who knows how long." The woman smiled. "Sit down and have some breakfast. Then, Willy will have to come see you."

Anne looked up at Mrs. Bucket. "Mr. Wonka?"


	2. The Tour of the Factory

The Tour of the Factory

Anne was sat down at the small table near the front door and was given more than enough helpings of scrambled eggs. Charlie's mother was very kind. The two of them talked throughout the breakfast as the grandparents in the bed started to stir.

Mrs. Bucket never asked how Anne had come to the factory, which was a bit of a relief for Anne. _"A memory I want to forget,"_ she thought to herself, finishing her third plate of eggs.

The plate was taken away and Charlie's mother took the seat across from Anne, a mug of coffee in her hand. She smiled kindly. "Willy's usually here by now. I wonder where he is."

Anne felt the excitement rise in her chest and could feel her fingers tingling for her notepad. "Does Mr. Wonka always join you for breakfast?"

"Yes," Mrs. Bucket answered. "Willy is a very good man; Charlie and he get along very well."

Right as she said it, the front door opened. Anne turned toward it eagerly, but found instead a different man walking into the house.

He was wearing denim overalls over his long-sleeved shirt. His eyes were narrow, but twinkled with delight. His smile was genuine as he looked down at Anne. "Hello there," he said heartily.

"You haven't got the proper introduction, dear," Mrs. Bucket said. "This is Anne."

Mr. Bucket placed down his briefcase to shake Anne's hand. "Pleased to meet you."

"And you," she said politely.

He crossed over to the coffee pot on one of the counters by the door. "It's good to see you're doing well, Anne. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine; thank you." She hesitated. "Just hoping to see Mr. Wonka soon and thank him for bringing me inside."

Mr. Bucket turned around with a mug in his hand. "Well, Willy should be here any minute now." He smiled down at his wife. "How did you sleep, darling?"

She looked up at him with as much affection as he had. "Great."

It was simple, yet amazing as to how much love was etched on each of their faces. Mr. Bucket walked over, leaned down, and gave a quick peck on the lips of Mrs. Bucket. She smiled, he sat down beside her, and the two of them started to eat.

Amanda felt a slight wave of jealousy rush over her as she stared at the happy couple. She had never had much luck with the guys. Sure, many men wanted to date her, but she just never found a guy that kept her interested for too long. Amanda's family called her "a woman looking for a chase." It was a very difficult thing to be called.

"Amanda, dear?"

Amanda came out of her trance and looked up.

Mrs. Bucket was standing on the other side of the table, holding the pan of scrambled eggs. "Would you like another helping?"

"Oh…no…I couldn't possibly," Amanda said, holding up her hand. "Thank you very much though," she said smiling.

Mrs. Bucket smiled back and put the pan back on the stove. "Dear," she said, turning towards the table. "Would you like to show Amanda to Mr. Wonka's office?" Amanda's heart rose. "I think she would like to go talk with him."

Mr. Bucket placed down his mug and looked at Amanda. "Would you like me to?"

"Oh no! You don't have to…"  
"I wouldn't mind," Mr. Bucket interrupted, standing up from the table.

"Well," Amanda said hesitantly. She smiled a little bit. "I was actually hoping I

could wander around the factory. I've been _dying _to see what's inside."

"By yourself?"

"If that would be all right?"

"Of course that's all right!" Charlie's father exclaimed, sitting back down at the table. "I'm sure you'll run into Willy somewhere."

Amanda felt goose bumps rise up her arm in excitement. "I'll just go change and then I'll be off!" She ran past the waking grandparents to the foot of the ladder. Before she climbed up, she turned to the kitchen. "Mrs. Bucket?" The woman turned around, a soapy mug in her hand. "Thank you for breakfast."

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Amanda had dressed quickly behind the dresser in Charlie's room. The child was still asleep so she quietly put on her green, flowy skirt and white tank top. She looked in the mirror and put her wavy hair in a low ponytail. Making sure that all her pens and her notepad were in her jacket, she put it over her shoulders, and made her way down the ladder.

The grandparents were all awake now and smiled at her as she made her way into the room. "Hello," she said.

They all introduced themselves and Amanda politely excused herself. She said a word to the parents and then stepped out of the house.

Amanda's mouth dropped open.

Her feet were standing on fake, edible grass and she was surrounded by life-size candy. Surrounding the house, there were peppermint trees and spotted mushrooms. Far in the distance, she could see bushes and flowers and other trees that were all made of candy. The sidewalks curving their way throughout the room had candy hearts and candy necklaces inside them. There was another surprise when Amanda spotted a large, spewing waterfall in the distance. _"Is that chocolate?!" _she asked herself.

She finally came out of her state of shock and made her way down the sidewalk. She dared not touch anything, in case she wasn't allowed, but instead stared hungrily at her at the heaven surrounding her.

The notepad was out and Amanda began to scribble every different candy that she could see. She crossed a lollipop bridge which crossed over the chocolate river. She kneeled down beside it and began to describe how smooth and glossy the surface of the pure chocolate looked.

Amanda felt like a child again. A smile was spread across her face as she wrote about the delights. She continued to describe how delicious and perfect the chocolate river looked. It seemed like there was not enough to describe how amazing it looked.

She must have been so enraptured with the purity of the chocolate, she did not even hear the footsteps behind her. Suddenly, someone touched her shoulder. Amanda screamed and flew around.

Willy Wonka was standing behind her. He jumped back as she screamed and smiled nervously. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to frighten you."

Amanda laughed breathlessly. "No…no…you're fine. I'm sorry. I was just so…" she pointed towards the chocolate river. "…captivated," she finished with a laugh. She slipped her notepad and pen into her coat pocket.

Mr. Wonka put his hands together and nodded. Amanda looked him up and down. Against his pale, white skin, he was wearing a magenta suit and holding a cane in his right hand. On top of his head was a tall hat that matched his suit and underneath his hat was his perfectly trimmed hair. His face almost looked like porcelain, so fake and smooth. His teeth were perfectly straight and white, very surprisingly, and he looked scared to be in front of her.

Then, Amanda looked into his eyes. They were dark, chocolate brown, and Amanda saw that this man was not fake at all. She saw warmth and kindness in them and suddenly smiled at him.

He stood up straighter and walked closer to her. "You were noticing my river?"

She hesitated. "Oh…oh yes!" She looked behind her. "It's absolutely amazing," she said quietly.

"That's because it's the only one in the world," he said excitedly.

"Oh?" she asked, turning back towards him.

"Yes." He held up his hands and started to use them as he talked. "You see, this makes the chocolate perfectly smooth. The waterfall churns it, making it frothy and…and…well…just darn great," he said, laughing awkwardly.

Amanda stared at him and forced a laugh. "Yes…"

There was a moment of silence as Amanda thought of something to say. Finally, she moved closer towards him. "Mr. Wonka?"

He moved back right away. "Yes?"

"I just want to say…thank you…for last night." He stared at her and she felt her cheeks redden. "I…I probably would be in a lot of trouble if you hadn't found me out there."

Mr. Wonka nodded, his hands fidgeting. "Well…couldn't leave you out there in the rain."

"Right."

There was another awkward moment and all that was heard was the rushing of the waterfall.

"Well!" Willy suddenly exclaimed. "You'll be wanting to see the rest of the factory, no?"

Amanda's eyes lightened. "I would love that!"

"Let's go then!" Willy said in his bright voice.

The two of them walked up from the river, crossed the bridge, and passed the Buckets' house. "How come you didn't come over this morning? They said you come over every day," Amanda asked Willy.

"Well, I was a little busy with an experiment I'm trying to finish." They walked towards the far end of the room. "As you well know, Charlie's taking over the factory after me and I want to get in as much as I can before I leave."

"When you say 'Charlie's taking over the factory after me,' does that mean you're leaving soon?" Anne asked kindly.

Willy shrugged his shoulders as they stopped in front of a large door. "I'm not exactly sure yet. It's still a mystery as to when it's my time to go." He looked up at the door as if it had just appeared in front of him. "Oh!" he gasped. He smiled at Anne. "Let's make our way through here."

He slowly pushed the door open and walked through the doorway. Anne followed him into a hallway full of mirrors.

Willy was walking a little ways in front of her and Anne stared at his back. How could a man at his age be so strange? How could he not notice how socially awkward he was with her? It was sad to see such a thing. Willy was a good guy, but Anne was talked to like a child.

Willy made it to the end of the hall where another large door was. "And where does this one lead to?" Anne asked.

"This," Willy said, his cheeks flushed, "is where I'm keeping my new experiment."

Anne's heart skipped a beat. "Is it?" she asked quietly.

Willy nodded looking up at the door. He then turned towards her, awkwardly holding his hands out towards her. "You must promise not to tell!" Amanda nodded and Willy stepped closer towards her, his face serious. "You must understand how important this is to me. This is my prized possession and I haven't even shown it to Charlie yet." He set both hands on her shoulders. Anne curiously looked down at them and Willy shot back, stuffing his hands in his suit pockets. "Sorry," he said with a nervous laugh.

The door was opened and steam immediately poured out of the room. Willy dramatically coughed and waved his hand around. "What's with all the smoke, gentlemen?" He walked into the room quickly, disappearing in the cloud of smoke.

The smoke hit Anne's eyes and went up her nose. She shut her eyelids as they bitterly stung and went into a coughing fit. "Come in!" Willy cried from inside.

Anne, still coughing, walked into the room, blind as a bat. She narrowed her eyes as tight as she could while they were still open and looked around for Willy. "Willy?" she croaked, and went into another coughing fit.

"Walk farther in!" Willy cried again.

She closed her eyes and stepped carefully around. The smoke was starting to clear so she could see better, but her coughing continued.

"This is my experiment room!" Anne looked up and saw that Willy was standing right in front of her, his hands in the air. She put her fist up to her mouth and Willy frowned. "I really am sorry about all the smoke. It's my experiment you see," he finished with a smile.

"And where exactly is your experiment?" Anne asked with frustration.

"Well, right next to you, silly."

Anne turned to her left to see Willy's new invention. Her head rose and rose until her eyes reached the top of the structure. Her back straightened and she took her fist away from her open mouth.

There were too many pipes and too many hunks of metal to tell exactly what it was. Anne didn't need to know what it was to know that it was one of the most spectacular things she had ever seen. The smoke was billowing from some pink pipes, but she ignored it as she walked closer. Mechanical hands were holding different kinds of food and putting it down chutes and putting wrappers on them. She stared at the beginning of the process, where some type of liquid was being poured down a funnel, and right down to the end, where the small candy was dropped into a bin.

"Do you like it?" Willy asked eagerly behind her.

"It's amazing," Anne said quietly, still staring.

Willy came up next to her. "Well, of course it is. My workers and I have been experimenting for months." She looked up at him. "You don't know how hard it is to get the Oompa Loompas to taste one of my candies for the first time," he finished with a laugh.

Anne stared at him. "What's an Oompa Loompa?"  
Willy laughed and walked over to the machine chute. "Well, they're my workers of course."

Anne followed him and watched him play with the mechanical hands. "Where exactly are your workers? I haven't seen any of them yet."

"They're out and about. Much too busy to sing a song for you right now. Anyway…" Anne stared at him like he was crazy…which she was pretty sure of. Willy turned back around to face her, his hands clenched together. "What else would you like to see?"

Anne's eyes brightened and she stood on her tiptoes. "Everything!"

Willy laughed. "It would take weeks to show you the whole factory." Anne put her feet flat on the ground. "Well, don't worry," Willy said desperately, moving towards her. "You're still gonna get a darn good tour."

Anne smiled. "Thank you, Willy."

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It was five hours later and Anne and Willy walked through a large door that led to the main room of the factory. Willy was laughing hysterically and Anne was stone-faced, staring down at her clothes, which were completely covered in blue jello.

"Can you believe that?" Willy said wheezing. He was also covered in the blue snack and it was dripping off his top hat. "I haven't seen that much distance in all my life."

"Amazing," Anne said sarcastically, flicking a large chuck off her shoulder.

They started to walk towards the Buckets' house as Willy kept laughing. "I mean…really…I haven't been in that jello room for a long time, and yet every time, it still gets me just as hard."

"Yep."

Willy turned to her and they walked past the chocolate garden. "Didn't you like that?" he asked seriously.

Anne sighed. "To be quite honest…no. But I did like every _other _room in the factory."

"What?!" Willy cried. "How can you not like the jello room?" They were walking down the path past the chocolate waterfall. "The way that machine just _shoots_ it out into all the small packages…it's amazing!"

"That's my question, Willy. Why couldn't you just…_pour_ the jello into the packages like any other normal jello factory?"

Willy stopped in his tracks and stared at her. She retraced her steps and stood in front of him. "Well, that's what makes _my _factory so special. It's different from everyone else."

He walked ahead of her towards the house, but Anne stood in her spot staring at his back. True, he was a very strange man…but something about him made Anne wonder. Willy was so carefree…like nothing bothered him. He didn't care what anyone thought about him and that really struck Anne as amazing.

Willy turned around as she reached the door of the house. "Well, don't you want to get washed up?"

Anne came out of her trance and started walking towards him, her shoes squishing the entire time.

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"How was your shower, dear?" Mrs. Bucket asked from her reading chair.

"Fine; thank you," Anne said, coming down the ladder in some jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. Her hair was wet and she wrapped a towel around her head to let it dry.

The grandparents all smiled at her, except one of the men, and she walked past them to sit down in another armchair beside Mrs. Bucket. "Where's Charlie?" she asked curiously.

"Oh, he and Willy have gone to get some dinner for us. They'll be back any second."

"Oh."

Silence. The only thing heard was the crackling in the fire.

"So…" Mrs. Bucket stared. Anne looked at her. "Did you have fun with Willy today?"

Anne chuckled lightly and looked down at her hands. "You could say that."

"Oh…I know. Willy is a very strange man."

"You've noticed, too," Anne said, looking up at her.

Mrs. Bucket laughed kindly. "Everyone has noticed it because Willy isn't too shy about how unusual he is."

Anne leaned towards her. "Why is he like that? Is it something about his past…or does he not choose to be like that? Mental illness?"

Again, Mrs. Bucket laughed. "Willy doesn't have mental illness."

"Then, what is it?"  
Becoming serious, Charlie's mother put her hands in her lap and sat up straighter. "Well, Willy doesn't really know what it's like to be in social situations. He ran away from home when he was just a boy."

'Bingo!' said Anne's journalistic mind. "Really?" Anne asked sympathetically.

"Yes," Mrs. Bucket said frowning. "I heard it was just he and his father and they didn't get along well at all."

"Do you know why that is?"

Right as she asked it, the door opened and Charlie ran inside. "Evening, mother. Evening, Anne."

He ran to his mom and kissed her on the cheek as Willy walked inside holding a picnic basket.

Anne smiled up at him and he kindly grinned back.

"Is that the food, Willy?" Mrs. Bucket asked, standing up from her chair.

"Yes, it is." He held it up like a prize.

"Great!" She walked over and stared to take out the food from it.

Charlie kept smiling at Anne nervously, like he didn't know what to do around her. "Mother," he suddenly said. "Where's Father?"

"He's at work. He's going to be gone until late."

Anne looked up at this. "Your husband still works?"

Mrs. Bucket looked at her, confused. "Of course he does. Why wouldn't he?" she finished with a laugh.

Anne shrugged her shoulders and started to help her take out the food. "I don't know…it just seems…that you…I mean…after…"

"It is what I have been trying to tell you," Willy suddenly spoke up. Everyone looked up at him and he was smiling at Mrs. Bucket. "He doesn't need to keep working. You're nice and safe inside here without getting extra money."

She laughed. "Don't be silly, Willy. We've already told you. As long as you're living in the factory, we're still your guests. We can't live here for free."

They went back to unpacking to food, chatting and laughing together. Anne stared at them in puzzlement. The Buckets were happy without a lot of money. The only thing they cared about was that they came across as polite and that they had each other under the same roof. Anne had never experienced that kind of love in her past.

"Anne?"

Anne looked up and saw that Mrs. Bucket was holding a plate up to her, with steaming chicken and rice. "Oh! Sorry!" Anne said, taking the food.

She sat down at one of the random chairs on the side of the table. Willy took the seat next to hers and Charlie sat across from her, beaming. Mrs. Bucket was pouring drinks at the counter, looking out the window. "Oh! Here he comes now! I thought he was working till night."

A few seconds later, the door opened and Mr. Bucket walked in, soaking wet. "Hello, dear!" he said breathlessly.

"Goodness! Is it _still_ raining out there?!" Mrs. Bucket exclaimed as her husband kissed her on the cheek.

"It is…can't believe it." He set his briefcase on one of the desks next to the fridge. "Hasn't let up since last night."

At this, Willy and Charlie both glanced over at Anne, and then went right back to eating their food. Anne felt her cheeks turn hot and she pretended nothing had happened. She didn't want to think about the previous night.

"Well…sit down," Mrs. Bucket said as she took her seat. "The chicken is nice and warm. Willy brought it over a couple minutes ago." She looked over at the grandparents in their beds. "How is it?"

They smiled and muttered and continued to eat in silence. Anne giggled and Willy looked down at her with a smile.

"How are you, Anne?" Mr. Bucket asked, sitting down next to Charlie.

"I'm fine, thank you," she said with a smile.

She looked back down at her chicken, but saw Mr. and Mrs. Bucket look at each other nervously before digging into their plates.

The dinner went very well. Willy told a story of how one of his workers fell into one of the fudge bins and it took hours to get all of the chocolate off of him. Anne laughed so hard, she almost began to choke.

"Are you alright, dear?" Mrs. Bucket asked, laughing with everyone else.

She gasped, "Yes, I'm fine."

Anne felt strangely comfortable with the family. Sure, Willy was pretty different, but he was a funny guy. He was never dull and always had a fun story to tell. The Buckets were one of the most fabulous families she had ever met and treated her like she had been there for years.

"Thank you, mother," Charlie squeaked after clearing his plate. He stood up from the table, took Willy and Anne's plates with him to the sink.

"Don't thank me, dear. Thank Willy," she said, beaming at Willy.

Willy waved his hand. "Ohhh…don't thank me for anything. If it weren't for this family, I wouldn't have anyone to take over my business for me."

Anne looked up at this. "Weren't any of the other children in the competition eligible for the job?"

"Eligible?!" one of the grandparents screamed from the bed.

Everyone turned to him, smiles on their faces. It was the smallest of the men. He had large glasses that magnified his eyes to the size of a bug.

Mrs. Bucket said, "Now, Dad," in a warning voice.

The man continued, speaking for the first time. "All of those other children were spoiled rotten. Charlie was the only one that was right for this business," he said, smiling at Charlie.

"If it weren't for you, Grandpa, I wouldn't have won the challenge," Charlie said from the sink.

The grandfather smiled and went back to eating his food.

Willy stood up from his chair and lifted his hat. "Well…I better be off!" Everyone made noises of protest, but Willy held up his hand. "I've got to work on my experiment a little before I sleep, otherwise it'll drive me nuts!" At this, he gave a quick glance at Anne and she smirked.

"Thanks again for the dinner, Willy!" Mr. Bucket said from his rocking chair.

"Thanks again for the hospitality!" Willy exclaimed, putting his hat on his head. He opened the door and gave one last look back, his eyes setting on Anne. "Meet me tomorrow at the chocolate waterfall?"

There was silence. Everyone hesitated before gluing their eyes on Anne in shock. She stood in question for a second, completely surprised by this last request. "Oh…well…sure," she stammered.

"Great!" Willy cried. And with that, he shut the front door.

"Well," Mrs. Bucket said, smiling at Anne. She said it innocently, but it looked like she was looking at Anne with new eyes.

_Hope you enjoyed! I'm really busy with school, and construction of my house, and my other stories. But please keep reading! Thanks!_


	3. Breaking through Willy

_Sorry this took so long to update. Again, it was hard to keep up with my stories especially with the construction of my house and what not. Just read and please make any comments that you'd like to share. Oh, and I realized in my last chapter I referred to Anne as Amanda. Sorry about that! There's an Amanda in my other story. _

Breaking through Willy

Anne woke up the next morning very early. After stretching and throwing the warm covers off her, she looked at her cell phone which was on the night table next to her. The time read 6:30. She raised her head up to look at Charlie sleeping next to her. He sighed and rolled over onto his other side.

Quietly, Anne got up from the bed and climbed to the downstairs. Mrs. Bucket was not up yet and Mr. Bucket had already left for work, Anne seeing the coffee pot had already been used. The grandparents were snoring in harmony and she stifled a laugh. Holding onto a change of clothes, she made her way to the bathroom. She stealthily closed the door and ran to the shower to turn it on.

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After changing into one of her cute, yellow, summer dress, putting on her makeup, and blow drying her hair, Anne stepped out of the bathroom with a new sense of air about her. She sighed in content as she walked over to the kitchen.

Mrs. Bucket was pouring herself a cup of coffee and turned at the sound of Anne's footsteps. "Well, good morning," she said kindly.

"Morning," Anne answered back, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

She walked over and placed a coffee mug in front of Anne. "Wow," she remarked, looking down at Anne's dress. "Don't you look nice today."

"Thank you," Anne said. "I felt it was time to change out of my regular work clothes." After she said it, she immediately regretted it. _"Damn it,"_ she thought bitterly.

Mrs. Bucket brought over the coffee pot now. "Where do you work?"

"I work in a small town that's quite a ways away," Anne said, absently gesturing with her hand.

"Which town? I might know it."

Anne looked up in her kind face. "Salisbury," she said timidly.

Mrs. Bucket's eyes brightened. "Oh, Salisbury! What a nice town! You're right; it's pretty small, but it sure is cute." She poured the rest of the coffee into Anne's mug and walked back to the sink.

Anne sighed with relief and she lifted the coffee mug up to her lips. "So, what do you work for then?" Mrs. Bucket asked, turning on the faucet.

Anne's heart dropped and she set the mug back on the wood. "Um, I work…for a little…" She ran her hand along the table. "I work for a furniture store!" she finally said.

Mrs. Bucket looked back at her. "Really?" she said interestedly.

"Yes," Anne said smiling. "It's really nice. I've been working there for a while now." She took her mug and began to drink the coffee quickly, so she could escape from the kitchen.

Mrs. Bucket said, "Well, that sounds like a nice job. I'm sure you're great for it." She smiled warmly at Anne.

Anne grinned at her over the brim of the mug and Mrs. Bucket went back to washing some dishes. Anne continued to drink the hot coffee and listened to the grandparents starting to wake around her.

"Morning!"

Anne slightly choked in surprise as Charlie came up behind her. He sat in the seat next to her, looking at her in concern. "Are you alright? I didn't mean to frighten you."

"No…no…" Anne said, her eyes watering. "It's okay. I just didn't think you'd be up this early."

"I was wondering the same thing," his mother said, coming over from the sink. Charlie smiled at her and she kissed him on the top of his head. "Good morning, dear."

"Good morning, mother." He smiled at Anne. "Are you going to go around the factory again with Willy?"

Anne cleared her throat and nodded. "I think so."

"That sound be fun," Mrs. Bucket said. She gave an almost knowing smile to Anne and Anne smiled reluctantly. She came over to Anne's chair and looked down in her mug. "Wow, you drank that fast. Would you like some more, dear?" she asked, holding up the coffee pot.

"No…I'm fine," Anne answered, holding up her hand. "That was delicious, but I should really be going."

"Without breakfast?"

Anne stood up. "Hey, I want to keep my stomach empty for today. Who knows what Willy will get me to try?"

Charlie and his mother both laughed. "Well, have fun then," Mrs. Bucket said.

"Thank you." She walked to the front door. "And thanks again for the coffee." She gave one last smile to the two family members and then walked out of the house.

The factory was still looking as amazing as ever as she walked down the front walk. In the distance, she could hear the spray of the chocolate waterfall and she heard the constant _thuds_ of candy falling from the tree every couple seconds. In the glass ceiling above, she could see that the sun was shining and the sky was as blue as sapphire.

As Anne made it to the grass, her cell phone suddenly went off. "Yikes," she said in surprise. She pulled it out of the front pocket of her dress where her tape recorder was sitting. "Patrick" she read off the front of the phone. She opened it up, pulled the antennae out and said, "Hello?"

"Hello?" Patrick said in his impatient voice. "I have been waiting for your call for two days and all I get is a 'hello?'"

Anne rolled her eyes and continued to walk among the candy trees. "Nice to finally talk to you too, Patrick."

"What has been going on? Have you met Willy?"

Anne looked around her to see if she was alone. After confirming no one could hear her, she stood behind a large, peppermint tree for privacy. "Yes, I've met Willy," she said quietly.

"And…?" Patrick persisted.

"And he's shown me a tour of the factory."

"Has he?" Patrick asked with interest. "I didn't expect him to show you this early on. What did you do for that?"

Amanda felt her cheeks flush. She wasn't willing to tell Patrick how she had gotten into the factory. She didn't even want to think about it, yet alone, talk about it. "I have my ways," she said mischievously.

Patrick laughed. "Have you made any recordings yet?"

"Yes, I did last night." And it was true. Before Anne had gone to bed, she had stepped outside to talk about the wonders of the factory on her small, tape recorder.

"Brilliant. Now all you need to do is get into the heart of Willy Wonka." Anne sighed and it was almost like she could see Patrick roll his eyes on the other side of the phone. "What's the matter?"

"It's just…" Anne didn't know how to explain this.

"Go on…" Patrick ordered her wearily.

Anne sighed again. "It's just…Willy is not an easy man to talk to."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" She struggled for words. "Let's just say that Willy Wonka is not a man to talk about personal things with. He's just too…"

"Strange?" Patrick finished for her.

"Exactly."

"Anne, you have worked with the strangest people up to date. How about that man who worked in the cheese shop?"

"Patrick, I know…it's just…"

"Or the teenager who dedicated her life to becoming senior president?"

"Patrick…"

"Or the man that vacuumed his front lawn?"  
"Patrick!" Anne suddenly cried out.

"What?"

Anne sighed angrily. "Those are all good points, Patrick, but Willy is different. True, he might not be as weird as those people, but he is just too enclosed to ever tell me about his personal life. Why do you think no one knows about his past?"

"Anne, I don't care if you have to give Willy a lap dance to get the truth out of him. You're getting this story."

"But…"  
"No 'buts.'" Patrick interrupted. "Tell them you have no where to stay, make up some elaborate story that you have no home, and they'll let you stay in the factory. You'll have all the time in the world to get what you want from Willy." He waited for Anne to say something, but she chose not to talk. "Anne, you understand?"

She stubbornly remained silent, but when Patrick cleared his throat, she knew he meant business. Anne tapped her foot and answered, "Yes, I understand."

"Good. Call me with new updates."

"Okay," she said glumly.

"Goodbye, Anne."

"Goodbye, Patrick," she said with a false, cheery voice. She closed her phone and tipped it into her pocket.

"How am I going to do this?" she asked herself aloud. With that, she started to walk across the edible grass, over to the chocolate waterfall where she could see Willy waiting for her.

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"Good morning, Anne," Willy said brightly as he saw her walking towards him.

"Good morning, Willy."

The two of them stood there awkwardly, waiting for the other person to say something. Anne shuffled her feet as Willy played with his cane. Finally, at the same time, they both said something.

"So, what are we…?" Anne started.

"How about we…?" Willy interrupted.

They both stopped and nervously laughed. "Go ahead," Anne encouraged.

Willy pointed with his cane to a small door against the wall hidden behind the waterfall. "Want to go in there?"

"What's behind there?" Anne asked curiously.

Willy smiled mischievously. "You'll see. Don't want to give away any secrets." He started to walk quickly towards the door and Anne followed reluctantly.

As they crossed the bridge that led over the chocolate river, Willy slowed down to walk beside Anne. Anne saw him look down at her dress out of the corner of his eye. "You look very…"

Anne looked up at him with a smile playing at the corner of her lips. "Sorry?" she asked.

"Never mind. Ah…here we are."

They were standing in front of the plain, white door. Willy moved forward excitedly and turned the door handle. He gave a glance to Anne and then swung the door open.

Anne looked inside, and only saw darkness. She felt chills rise up her arms. "What's in there?" she asked nervously.

"Come on! You'll see." Willy moved forward into the room and was instantly consumed by the darkness, but Anne could still hear the tapping of his cane on the cement ground.

Anne walked closer to the entrance of the door and peeked her head in. "Willy?" she called out. Her voice bounced off the walls and she heard it echo about four times.

"Come on, Anne! You'll be fine! Just follow me," she heard Willy's amused voice repeat.

She looked behind her at the gayness of the chocolate factory and the many candy trees. She then looked forward into the darkness and felt her heart rate speed up. Sighing reluctantly, she took a step and walked into the room.

Right as she stepped in, the door slammed shut behind her. She jumped around with a gasp. The door handle didn't move as she tried to open it. She turned back around, squinting with all her might to see anything in front of her.

"Willy?" she said, her voice shaking.

No answer.

"Willy?" She moved forward a little bit. "Willy, I'm a little claustrophobic and the pitch black is not really helping."

The clicking of her high-heeled shoes reverberated off the cold walls. Every so often, she swung her head around to see if anyone was sneaking up behind her. She called out Willy's name, but she could no longer hear the sound of his cane and he wasn't responding to her calls.

_"When does this room end?"_ she asked herself, getting quite frustrated.

Suddenly, as if the room had been waiting for her to ask that, the floor beneath her gave out. "Ahhhhhh!" she screamed, her high-pitch cry bouncing off the wall.

Anne was falling. She could feel her dress gathering around her knees, but she was too scared to care. Was this supposed to happen? She kept on screaming and tried with all her might to grab on anything around her. It was no use; she couldn't even feel if there was wall surrounding her. The pitch black made it hard to see where she was going to fall. Her heart was beating against her chest so quickly and she realized she had been falling for a long time. _"I'm going to die…I'm going to die." _

_Pouf. _Anne landed on something soft and she grunted as she fell back on her back. There was light, but Anne's eyes were slowly getting adjusted. Her heart was still beating as quick as it had been during the fall and she could feel her hands and knees shaking.

"There you are!" someone suddenly cried in front of her.

She blinked a couple of times to see the man standing directly in front of the heap of soft stuff she was lying on. As light came to her eyes, she saw that Willy was crouching over her, with an excited grin on his face. "So, did you like that?"

Anne's face flushed and her hands started to clench. She flew up from the heap as fast as she could. "Did I _like _that? Did I _like _that?" The smile on Willy's face started to fade as Anne walked up to him. "How could you leave me up there? I was scared to death! I thought I was going to die as I was falling through the _pitch black_! I can't believe that you would even have the audacity to…"

Willy suddenly put his finger in front of her mouth. "Whoa! Don't get so angry there." Anne scoffed and took her eyes off him, tapping her foot warningly. "Listen, Anne. I'm sorry that I left you, but I wanted you to get the whole effect of the Marshmallow Room."

"Yeah, I _got _the whole effect, you can be…." She looked back up at Willy. "Did you say…Marshmallow Room?"

Willy grinned and pointed behind her. Anne slowly turned around and felt her mouth gape open.

She had fallen into the largest amount of marshmallows she had ever seen. There were millions surrounding them. Even the walls were covered with the small treats. There were white, yellow, pink, and blue. In the middle of the room was the machine that obviously made them. About ten were coming out at the same time, dropping into a little chute that led to some other part of the room.

"Do you like it?" Willy asked quietly.

Anne slowly nodded, still looking about her in shock. "How did you…how do you…?"

"It's the machine. Once the marshmallows are done making, the chute transports them to all different parts of the room: the walls, the ground, everywhere. I added that huge heap for me to land into whenever I visit this room."

Anne rolled her eyes, but slightly smiled as she started to walk towards the machine. "How long did it take you to make it?"

Willy joined her. "Well, I wasn't the only one that made it. My Oompa Loompas helped me."

Anne looked up at him. "When will I be meeting your Oompa Loompas?"

He ran his hands together excitedly. "How about now?"

"Really?"

"Yes." He looked behind her. "Well, here comes one now."

The smallest man Anne had ever seen had just walked into the room. He wasn't even half as tall as the heap of marshmallows. He had dark hair, dark eyes, and dark skin and he walked over to the two of them with a sullen face.

"Hello there," Willy greeted him kindly.

The man stopped and looked up at Anne with curiosity. Willy also looked at Anne and then back at the Oompa Loompa. "Would you like to say hello to our guest?" he asked like he was talking to a child.

The small man raised his hand and waved it blandly. Anne raised hers and waved back. "Hello," she said, staring down at the man in shock. She realized that he reached mid-thigh on her.

Willy said, "Well, the room looks great. You guys are taking good care of it." He tapped the man on the head. "Great job!" He then looked at Anne. "Well, there's my worker. Do you want to continue?"

"Sure," Anne said, still staring at the height difference of the man and her.

"Great!" Willy exclaimed. He patted the man's head again. "See you later." He then walked across the room to where another door was standing.

Anne was still standing in her place, staring at the man and he was staring back at her. "Anne!" Willy called from the door.

Anne came from her trance and looked at Willy. "Oh!" she said. She walked across the room, looking over her shoulder every so often to look at the Oompa Loompa. Once she reached Willy, he held his hands up excitedly.

"Ready to see the next room?"

"If I have to fall through a dark pit again…no."

Willy laughed and shook his head. "Don't worry. This one's pretty normal." He opened the door and the two of them walked in.

It looked pretty normal to Anne. She didn't see anything out of the extraordinary. Plenty of Oompa Loompas were in this room, stirring things in large, metallic pots and simmering small pans over minuscule flames.

"This is one of the many fudge rooms," Willy said, walking farther in.

"One of the many?" Anne repeated.

"Well, there are over fifty fudge flavors." He held up his hands and started to count off his fingers. "We have…milk chocolate fudge, vanilla chocolate fudge, dark chocolate fudge, cherry Garcia fudge, pecan fudge, chocolate chip fudge, peanut butter fudge, strawberry fudge…"

Anne suddenly grabbed his hands. "Okay, Willy." He stopped and she smiled. "I get it."

Willy slowly looked down at her hands that were still grasped onto his. She awkwardly cleared her throat and let go quickly. He stared at her for a couple seconds and then smiled. "Let's go on, shall we?"

"Sure."

Willy crossed the room and Anne could see the many workers stirring the thick, gooey chocolate. She felt a pang of hunger strike her as she stared at the glossy goodness.

"You want some?" Willy asked her, smiling at her hungered look.

"Oh," she said taken aback. Willy was still smiling at her and she shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, why not?"

He walked over to a pot that was near by and tapped an Oompa Loompa on the back. He was standing on a ladder while stirring the chocolate, but Willy towered over the pot. "Can I have a ladle?" Willy asked.

The Oompa Loompa went to his belt and slid out a ladle as if it was a tool on a carpenter's belt. He handed it to Willy, his face also sullen, and Willy took it gracefully. "Thank you."

Willy dipped the ladle into the chocolate and then came back over to Anne. Anne held out her hand to take the chocolate, but Willy walked past her. "What are you doing?" she asked, following after him.

"Well, I'm not just going to give you melted chocolate, silly," he laughed. They were at a large oven that was backed against one of the walls. He opened one of the many doors and inside was a container where the chocolate was obviously supposed to go. Willy bent over, dumped the chocolate into the container, shut the oven door, and turned a knob.

"There!" he said, turning towards Anne. "It'll only take two minutes."

"That's amazing!" Anne said, looking through the oven door. "Most fudge is made by freezing the chocolate."

"That's because this special oven…" He struggled for the words. "Um…has special purposes."

Anne laughed and looked at him. He looked back at her, laughing just as hard, and then suddenly stopped. He looked down at his feet and cleared his throat.

Anne stared at him, wondering. Why was he so awkward with her? Why did she feel so distant from him? "Willy?" she suddenly asked.

He looked up at her. "Yes?"

"Do you have a mother and father?"

Willy's eyes suddenly became cold and he looked away from her. "Now, why do you want to know that?" he asked, nervously laughing.

Anne shrugged her shoulders. "I was just asking."

Shaking his head, Willy looked back up at her. "I don't really remember my childhood too much."

Anne's eyes widened. "You don't remember if you have parents?"

"Well…of course I know that. I just don't know if they…"

Anne stepped closer to him and realized her voice got quieter. "You just don't know if they…what?"

He reluctantly raised his head to look at her. "I just don't know if they ever considered me their son."

They stared at each other, Willy looking timid and Anne staring into those child-like eyes. Suddenly, the timer went off on the oven and both of them jumped.

"Whoa!" Willy cried out. He went to the oven and opened the door. Immediately, a wonderful smell came to Anne's nose and she sniffed the air appreciatively. "You like that?" Willy asked with a smile.

"Yes I do." Willy tipped the container over his hand and the fudge easily slid out onto his palm. "Here you go," he said, holding out the fudge to Anne.

Anne raised her hand to take it, but it reluctantly twitched as she was about to touch it. "Don't worry; it's cool," Willy said reassuringly.

Anne smiled and grabbed the fudge. It was nice and soft and was a beautiful, chocolate brown. She smelled it as she raised it to her lips. It was one of the greatest smelling foods she had ever had the pleasure to sniff. Slowly, she bit into the corner of the square fudge. The chocolate entered her mouth and her eyes closed with the pleasure of the taste.

Willy asked, "How is it?"

It was amazing. Anne had never tasted anything so wonderful in all of her life. It was creamy, yet almost a satisfying chewy. The taste of the milk chocolate fudge entered each crevice of her mouth and she licked the corners of her mouth with her tongue.

"I knew you'd like it," Willy said quietly.

Anne continued to eat the fudge, enjoying every moment of it. Finally, Willy said, "Would you like to keep going?"

Anne nodded excitedly, taking one of the last bites into the chocolate.

They started to leave the room and Anne handed the chocolate out to Willy. "Want some?" she said thickly as she chewed.

Willy held up his hand. "Oh no, I couldn't."

"Come on," Anne persisted. "I can't eat all of this; this is some of the most filling stuff I have ever had the joy to eat."

"No," Willy said, still holding up his hand.

"Willy." Anne started to push the chocolate towards him.

"I don't want it."

"Yes you do; I can tell," Anne said, starting to laugh.

"Please don't!" Anne was pushing through his hands and starting to put the fudge towards his lips. "What are you doing that for?"

Anne laughed and fought to get it into his mouth. "Willy, just open your mouth!"

"No!"

The two were stopped and were standing in the middle of the room, openly fighting against each other. Anne was laughing and Willy was trying to push her hand away, but she was winning. Finally, she took power over him and stuffed the small piece of fudge into his mouth.

"Ha-ha!" she said triumphantly. "Now eat it!"

Willy chewed defeated, but obviously enjoyed the fudge. When he finished, he looked at Anne. "I have never met anyone as strange as you."

Anne laughed her mouth open with shock. "You're one to talk."

"I never forced-fed you," Willy said, slightly laughing.

"You've done other things." They both laughed greatly, Amanda holding on her stomach to breathe easier. Both of them stopped when they realized they were being watched.

The Oompa Loompas in the room were all staring at then, their sullen faces blaring at them. Anne suddenly felt uncomfortable with the whole situation and she moved a little father away from Willy.

"Well," Willy said, not looking at Anne. "Let's continue."

The two of them walked through the other door, the Oompa Loompas still staring right through them.


	4. Anne's New Home

Anne's New Home

As the door shut behind them, Anne looked around the normal-looking room in interest. _"What magical candies lie in here?"_ she asked herself.

Willy stepped in front of her. "This is one of the rooms of my Wonka Bars."

Anne's eyes widened. "Is it?"

"Yes." They started to walk around the room, Willy talking excitedly. "Every day, children eat my Wonka Bars. It is my most famous candy. This room is vital to my selling. Without it, I wouldn't get too much business."

"I'm sure you wouldn't," Anne said in a bored voice.

"If you want one, I'll be sure to give it to you." He turned to her.

Anne stopped and looked around at the different machines putting the candy bars together. She truly wanted to try one, but the fudge had been so filling. "Well…I'm rather full at the moment."

"Full?" Willy asked, a frown creasing his forehead.

"Yes. The fudge you gave me really filled me up."

Willy continued to stare at her like she was nuts. Anne started right back, waiting for him to say something. He finally opened his mouth and said, "Full?"

Anne looked at his truly dumbfounded look. "Yes…full." Willy shook his head in puzzlement, and Anne began to feel frustration. "It means I don't want anymore candy."

Willy stood up straighter. "Well, why not?"

Anne rolled her eyes. "Because…I'm…full…" she said slowly.

Shaking his head, Willy began to smile. "No one's ever full when it comes to candy." He grabbed her wrist and began to pull her over to one of the machines. "Come on; try one of my Wonka Bars."

She wrenched her wrist out of his hand. "I told you; I'm full!"

Willy looked down at his now vacant hand in surprise. Anne suddenly felt a pang of guilt as she looked at how truly upset Willy looked at her denial.

"Well…maybe another time," Willy said glumly.

He began to walk back across the room to the other door. Anne stayed in her spot, looking at the now hunched shoulders of Willy. She sighed and begun to follow him, her shoes clicking on the cement ground.

"Where are we off to now?" Anne asked.

Willy looked at her. "Have you had enough for today, Miss Anne?"

"Oh," Anne said, taken aback. "Oh…well if…" Willy stared down at her. "If you want the tour to end, Mr. Wonka, we could stop."

"It's just I have much to do before lunch with the Buckets." Anne nodded, and Willy stepped closer to her. "But I'll show you more after lunch," he said quickly.

Anne smiled. "That sounds very well." She looked around her in bewilderment. "So…um…" She looked up at him. "How do I get back?" she asked with a laugh.

Willy laughed also and pointed towards one of the machines. "Ask one of my workers to escort you back to the Buckets'. He would be more than willing."

"All right. Thank you."

As Anne smiled and walked toward the Oompa Loompa, Willy walked through the other door to start some of his daily work.

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After the small man escorted Anne back to the waterfall, she smiled and thanked him. He stared at her with his usual, expressionless face and walked back through the door that Willy had started the tour.

Once she realized she was alone, Anne sighed and began to walk down the candy necklace path. "What am I going to do now?" she asked herself, looking down at her shoes.

Patrick's voice went through her mind saying, _"Get the family to ask for you to stay."_

Anne sighed and started arguing with "Patrick." _"It's almost impossible, Patrick. The family is kind, but I don't think they would be willing to let me live with them."_

_"You can convince them. You're good at that kind of stuff."_

_"I'm good at different things but not this stuff."_

_"I don't care what you have to do, Anne. Find a way to live with them."_

"How?!" Anne suddenly cried out.

Suddenly, she had been concentrating so hard on her mind, Anne ran right into Charlie. The child gasped and stepped back, and Anne screamed a bloodcurdling cry.

Whatever Charlie was holding, he suddenly dropped it in surprise, and he stepped even further back from Anne. Her heart racing, Anne put her hand on her chest.

"Charlie," she said breathlessly. He was still looking at her nervously. "I'm so sorry. I didn't see you."

"I was walking right towards you."

Anne started to laugh. "I was thinking deeply." Charlie continued to stare at her. "No, Charlie, really, I'm sorry. Is there anything you wanted?"

He smiled a timid smile and bent down to pick up what he dropped. "It's okay." Once he stood up straight, he looked at her curiously. "Why did you yell out 'how?'?"

Anne's eyebrows furrowed. "How?" she asked blankly.

Charlie nodded. "Yes. When I came towards you, you suddenly yelled out 'how.'" Anne's heart dropped. "Why did you do that?"

Again, an image of Patrick appeared in her mind. _"This is it,"_ the evil mirage said to her. _"This is your chance to make up some story to stay with the family."_

Anne sighed and looked into the innocent face of Charlie. Guilt rose up inside her, but she knew what she had to do. "Charlie," she started, moving towards him. "Do you want to take a walk with me?"

He smiled right away. "Sure."

Anne smiled back and grabbed onto the small arm of the boy. Starting with a dramatic sigh, Anne began to make up an elaborate story on the tip of her tongue.

"You see, Charlie, when adults try to find answers to their questions, they ask the questions out loud so it's easier to find a solution." She looked down at him and saw that he was looking down in wonderment. "Do you understand?"

He looked up at her. "Yes."

"Good." They continued to walk past the chocolate waterfall. "Whenever I have a serious problem to fix in a matter of days, I always try to find a solution in my head. You see," she said, her voice rising a little, "you came upon me as I was asking myself how I was going to solve one of my serious problems. It's so important that I find the solution, otherwise I fear I'll be in a lot of trouble." Once she finished, she knew she had hit the jackpot.

Charlie looked up at her with kind eyes. "Would you…?" He began to stutter. He asked timidly, "Would you mind me asking what your serious problem is?"

_"Bingo!" _Anne sighed and absentmindedly waved her hand. "Not to worry, Charlie. It's none of your concern."

"No…no…I want to help!" Charlie finished eagerly.

"Well…I don't even know what I'm going to do. You see, I came to this small town, hoping to find somewhere to live." They crossed over the bridge. "I don't have much money and I was hoping to find a cheap apartment. My job paid pretty well, but I just got fired from it. I didn't tell the truth to your mother, because I felt awful. I actually keep the rest of my money with me for the most part." Charlie still stared at her. She flinched slightly as the vision of the man in the rain came into her mind.

"What is it?" Charlie asked.

Anne looked down at him and couldn't help but smile at how gently he was looking at her. She patted his arm. "Remember the night you found me, Charlie?"

At this, Charlie looked away from her, and his cheeks slightly reddened. "Yes," he said quietly.

"Well…that night…the man that attacked me stole all of my money." Charlie's head snapped back up to hers. "The money that I was hoping to buy an apartment with."

"That's awful."

"It's quite dreadful, yes." They walked past the cherry candy trees and the meadow of chocolate daisies. "I have been trying to think of somewhere to live, but I just can't afford anything. That's why I yelled out 'how' when you saw me. I was asking myself how I was going to find a place to stay."

Anne finished and watched the little mind of Charlie's begin to whirl. It didn't take him long; he was a smart boy. His eyes lighted as an idea popped into his head. "You could stay with us!" he suddenly cried out, grabbing tighter onto her arm.

The actress Anne gasped, but then instantly began to shake her head. "No…no…I could _never _do that." The journalist, Anne, smiled inside.

Charlie persisted. "No, it wouldn't matter! I'm sure Mother and Father would be perfectly okay with it."

Anne continued to shake her head. "I don't know about that, Charlie. I don't think I could ask that of your parents."

Charlie smiled. "You needn't worry; they really like you. If you want me to, I would be more than happy to ask my mother before lunchtime."

"Charlie…" Anne started.

Charlie unlinked arms with her and stepped back with a fresh of new air around him. "Oh, this could be wonderful! I'm sure she'll say yes. I'm almost positive."

He began to run off, but Anne cried out, "Charlie!" The boy turned around and looked at her. ""Make sure she knows its okay to say no."

Charlie nodded and ran off over the edible, green grass.

"Yes!" rejoiced Anne to herself. She did a small, happy kick with her leg and began to walk back towards the house. "I have to text Patrick."

Making sure no one could see her, Anne took out her cell phone and began to text to her boss. "Just wanted you to know that I think I have the okay to live here. The boy is going to ask his mother. Did I do a good job?" She made sure to put a smiley face at the end of her message before shutting her phone.

"Now all I have to do is breakthrough to Willy," Anne whispered to herself.

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As Anne walked through the door of the Buckets' house, Charlie immediately ran to her from his chair at the table.

"They said yes!" he exclaimed, his eyes bright.

Anne looked up at Mr. and Mrs. Bucket who were sitting at the dining table, both smiling kindly at her.

"We had no idea you didn't have a place to stay, Anne. Why didn't you ask before?" Mrs. Bucket asked, standing up to grab a bowl of soup.

Anne walked over to her chair to sit down. "I didn't want to impose on your family. I felt rude."

Mr. Bucket laughed. "That's silly. You're welcome to stay here as long as you want."

Anne couldn't help but feel a slight pang of guilt as she looked into the trustworthy faces of the family. She smiled timidly and looked down at her bowl of soup. "Where's Willy?" she asked.

"He should be here any minute," Mrs. Bucket answered, sitting back down in her chair. "He always tells us to start without him, so go right ahead and eat."

Anne smiled and out of the corner of her eye saw Charlie begin to scarf down his soup. She followed suit and picked up her spoon to begin sipping up the delicious soup.

"All we ever have is soup!" one of the grandparents cried.

Anne looked over and saw a disgruntled man playing around his soup. She couldn't help but giggle and tried to suppress it by stuffing the spoon back into her mouth,

"Pop," Mr. Bucket said in a calm voice, "this soup is very good for you. Not only that, it's delicious."

The man groaned and went back to playing with the broth.

Mr. Bucket leaned across the table towards Anne. "Sorry about him; you'll get used to him. He's just been a little disgruntled ever since he realized he's too weak to take care of himself."

"Oh," Anne said sympathetically.

All of a sudden, the front door opened, and Willy walked through. "Hello, everyone," he said with a cheery smile.

"Hi, Willy," everyone chorused back.

As he walked towards the table, Anne noticed that Willy tried finding a seat that was farther away from her. It was almost comical, because the only seat left was the one on her left.

Willy walked slowly to the table, looking around for other chairs. Mrs. Bucket stopped eating her soup and stared at him. "Well sit down, Willy," she said, pointing at the chair beside Anne.

With a quick grin, Willy grabbed the chair and slid himself into it until he was comfortable. Anne again had to suppress a giggle and kept eating her soup.

"Here's some soup for you," Mrs. Bucket said, handing a bowl to him.

"Oh, thank you."

The eating continued and the conversation started. Anne realized that Willy was the one that kept the flow of conversation going. She stared at the side of his face, watching his wide eyes sparkle as Charlie's did. Everyone laughed at what he said, and he looked truly happy to be at this table, eating with these people. _"He truly is like a child."_

"Anne?"

"Hmm?"

Anne came out of her trance and saw that another bowl was being offered to her. She kindly rejected and leaned against the back of her chair.

"Willy," Charlie started, "did you hear that Anne is going to be living with us?"

Anne looked over at Willy and saw that he had a quizzical look on his face. "It's only for a while," Anne said quickly. Willy looked right at her. "I'll leave once I find a proper job."

"Take your time, dear," Mr. Bucket said. "I know personally how hard it is to find another job once you've been laid off."

Anne nodded her head and placed her hands on the table. "That was absolutely delicious. Thank you so much," she said to Mrs. Bucket.

"No problem." The woman came over and picked up the empty dish off of the table. "I'm glad you liked it."

As Mrs. Bucket went over to the sink with the bowls, she said over her shoulder, "Speaking of liking things, how is the tour of the factory going?"

Anne quickly looked at Willy and as fast as she looked, she quickly took her eyes off him. She didn't want to cause any awkward moments. He had seemed so cold before when she declined his candy.

"It's going great!" Willy surprisingly answered.

Mrs. Bucket turned around with a towel in her hand. "Is it?" she asked coyly. Anne couldn't help but wish she hadn't asked the question in that tone of voice.

"Yes," Willy continued. "I was hoping to show her so much more. It's a good thing she's staying longer; we have a lot to see."

Mr. Bucket, still sitting across from her asked, "How do you like the factory so far?"

Anne smiled. "Oh, it's absolutely amazing! I love everything about it."

"That's great."

There was an awkward moment of silence as everyone thought of what to say next. Anne was dying to see more of the factory, not because she was interested in it, but because it would be great for her story.

Charlie suddenly spoke up. "Do you think I could come with?"

"No, darling, let the grownups go," Mrs. Bucket said, glancing at Anne.

Anne looked at the look on her face and suddenly said, "No, Charlie, you can come. I can tell you really want to."

"But Charlie has already seen most of the factory, dear. You and Willy should just go alone."

"Really. It's no problem. I would love him to come with," Anne said, her voice rising ever so slightly.

"But, Anne, it would make it so much harder if Charlie came with. If it's just you and Willy, you'll have time to talk about things."

Charlie spoke up. "I won't talk too much! I'm never too loud, Mother."

Anne smiled at him. "I know you're not, Charlie." She then looked at Willy. "Would it be a burden if he came along, Willy?"

Willy looked over at Mrs. Bucket with an anxious face. When he looked back over at Anne, his eyes fell on Charlie. The corner of his eyes softened, and a smile started to spread across his face. "I wouldn't mind at all."

Charlie looked at his mother. "Can I go, mum? Please?"

Anne looked over at Mrs. Bucket and saw that she was looking right at her. For a minute, it seemed she wouldn't answer at all. However, when there continued to be a fevered silence, she sighed, and begun to nod her head.

Charlie cheered and jumped up from his chair. "Thank you! Thank you!" He suddenly stopped jumping, and his eyes widened. "Let me go change." And with a flash, he ran from the table and climbed up the ladder to his room.

Mr. Bucket smiled at his son and got up to go to his bedroom.

The rest of them softly laughed, and Mrs. Bucket turned to go back to the sink. Anne watched her back, her eyes slightly narrowed.

She couldn't help but notice that Mrs. Bucket seemed like a matchmaker whenever it came to Willy and Anne. She always wanted them alone or wanted Anne to discuss her life with him. Anne almost laughed at the idea. There was no way that she would ever date a guy like Willy. Although he was very kind and compassionate, Willy was also strange and naïve.

_"He must be so lonely," _Anne suddenly realized. He wasn't old, but not too young either. _"Has he ever loved anyone?"_ Anne looked over at Willy, who was still sitting beside her.

He was looking down at his empty bowl, playing around with the remnants of soup and chicken. The way he was playing with his food made him look like a three year old.

_"How can you go your whole life without ever loving somebody?"_

"I'm ready!"

Anne jumped and turned to see Charlie standing in a fresh, change of clothes.

"Great!" Willy cried out, standing up from his chair. He looked at Charlie with excitement. "I forgot to tell you, Charlie. I got much further along in my new invention."

"Did you?"

"Yes! I'll have to show you once we get to the room."

"I'm excited to see it, Willy. Do you think…?"

The two continued to discuss their plans eagerly as Mrs. Bucket came up behind Anne rolling her eyes. "The two of them never stop," she said quietly. Anne noticed that she was smiling at she stared at them.

Anne smiled and nodded in agreement. "When do you think Willy will retire altogether?"

Mrs. Bucket shrugged her shoulders. "He doesn't say." She turned her eyes on Anne and began to whisper. "I hope it's not too soon. I don't think Charlie will be ready for a long time."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, it's a lonely life. Willy never goes out of the factory. He doesn't see his family; he doesn't have any friends…" She made eye contact with Anne. "He never dates."

Anne felt a slight pang of annoyance, but she looked at Mrs. Bucket with kind eyes. "He doesn't date?"

She shook her head. "Nope." Her eyes glazed over as she continued to stare at Willy and Charlie. "I'm scared he'll never find someone to love."

_"Well, it's not going to be me." _Anne cleared her throat and put her hands into the pockets of her dress. "Well, you never know. He might find the perfect person for him some day."

Mrs. Bucket smiled at her.

"You ready, Anne?"

Anne looked over and saw that the eager conversation had ended. Willy and Charlie were looking at her in excitement.

"Oh yes, I'm ready."

"Let's go!" Charlie cried, running to the front door.

"Charlie…" Mrs. Bucket started.

The boy stopped and turned around. "What?"

She held out her arms. "Come give me a kiss."

Charlie rolled his eyes and dropped his shoulders. He glumly walked over to his mother, and Willy and Anne walked to the front door. As Charlie's mother bent down to kiss her son, Anne called behind her shoulder, "Thank you for lunch, Mrs. Bucket."

She smiled warmly at her. "No problem."

Willy opened the door and allowed Anne to walk out first.

Her feet clicked against the rocks of the front path. Anne looked up into the bright room and felt the familiar twitch of her hand as she craved to write her story.

"I wouldn't have minded if we went alone you know."

Anne turned around and saw that Willy was standing very timidly behind her. She stared at him in surprise before she answered. "It's just…" she stammered. "You seemed mad with me after the last part of the tour."

Willy shook his head and came towards her with a grin. "I never get too angry with folks. I always try to see the good in people."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Anne asked coldly.

Willy didn't detect her iciness and continued to talk. "Well, when stiff, boring people like you are forced to be with exciting, talkative people like me, there is always awkward conversation. I'm not angry with you because of your personality."

Anne's mouth was gaping open, clearly at a loss of words. She could feel the heat of anger in her neck, and as she opened her mouth to say something back, the front door opened, and Charlie ran outside.

"Sorry I took so long!" he said closing the door. He ran to the two of them and his smile started to fade. "Is something the matter?"

"No. Nothing's wrong," Anne said shortly, still staring at Willy. She then looked at Charlie and faked a smile. "Are you ready to go?"

The boy nodded and ran down the path in front of them. Willy gave her a large smile before turning his back on her. Anne watched the back of the strange, tall man and felt a stirring inside her. _"Am I really stiff and boring?"_

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"Willy, you're absolutely right. I love what you've done with the machine; that is exactly what I would have done."

"I knew you would, Charlie. That's why I chose you."

Once more, Charlie and Willy were discussing the new inventions in the factory. If Anne hadn't been writing a story about the subject, she would've found everything about the new invention boring, but she was paying close attention to what they were all saying.

The three of them were walking out of the hot chocolate room. Charlie had dipped his own mug in the liquid and Anne watched with envy as he sipped down the drink.

"Did you want some of that?" Willy asked, looking down at Anne.

"Oh," she said taken aback, "no, it's fine. The broth really filled me up."

"Are you sure?" he asked leeringly.

Anne nodded. "Quite sure." They walked into a new room which was filled with multicolor smoke. "What is this room, Willy?"

"Oh! This is the cotton candy room. It's quite exquisite." Charlie was staring at him, his eyes bulging. "We color the white, original cotton candy by using a misty spray. That is why there is so much smoke," he said, gesturing around the room.

"That's amazing," Charlie whispered in awe.

Willy looked down at him. "It is…isn't it?" He pointed to a rack of different colored candies. "Would you like some?"

"Yes!" Charlie said, running forward.

Willy stayed behind and looked back at Anne. "Would you like some?"

Anne, not forgetting what he had said before, merely raised her hand. "No thanks."

Willy looked like he wanted to say something, but he turned around and walked forward to join Charlie.

Anne started to walk around the room, making mental notes in her head about the different machinery and methods Willy used. She made sure to remember the unusual ingredients she saw.

As hard as she tried, Anne just couldn't take her mind off what Willy had said about her before. When people insulted Anne, she usually shrugged it off and ignored it. But now, when she least expected it, she actually questioned her attitude.

_"Why do I care what Willy says about me? Look at the guy; he's so weird."_

He was a strange man, but one of the nicest Anne had ever talked to.

_"Do I care because I'm surrounded by so many nice people?"_

Yeah, that's it, Anne reassured herself.

But hard as she tried to convince herself, Anne still felt the new and unusual shiver of guilt go up her spine.

_I'll try to update soon! Next chapter will probably have a little bit of dynamic change in Anne. Hope you guys enjoy it! Thanks for the reviews._


	5. The New Bedroom

_Sorry this took me a long time to update. I'll try to go quicker! Hope you like this chapter!_

The New Bedroom

As the trio was walking back to the Buckets' house, Anne replayed every breakup of her life through her mind, trying to remember why her heart had been broken so many times. It was difficult to think, however, as the two boys tried to include her in their conversation of the factory. Anne merely smiled and went back to the mystery of her breakups.

_"Why did all my relationships end so badly?"_

"Is something the matter, Anne?"

Anne looked down and saw that Charlie was kindly looking up at her, his blue eyes full of concern. "Oh no," she said. "Nothing's wrong, Charlie; I was just thinking."

He still stared with a slight frown on his face. "You really don't have to worry about staying with us. My parents don't mind."

_"He thinks I still feel guilty about his parents accepting my offer. Guess I better make this convincing."_ "Well…it's just," Anne sighed.

"What?" Charlie asked.

The three of them were now crossing the bridge, Willy looking excitedly down into the chocolate river. Charlie and Anne ignored him as Anne continued to talk.

"I feel so awful, Charlie. Your parents are giving up more space in their house for another body." Charlie shook his head like he meant to interrupt. "I really can't help feeling that I'm just an extra burden."

Willy spoke so suddenly, both Charlie and Anne jumped. "I have over sixty-three guest rooms if it means anything to you," he said as if he were discussing the weather.

Charlie snapped his head to the left to look at Willy. "Over sixty-three guest rooms?!"

"Yes," Willy said smiling. "And they all have different themes; you would just love them," he added on, looking at Anne.

"Why didn't you say that before, Willy?" Charlie asked, a slight grin forming on his mouth.

Willy looked bewildered. "Well, I never thought of it before."

Charlie smiled at Anne before looking back at Willy. "Willy, would it be too much to ask if Anne stayed in one of your guest rooms?"  
"Of course not!" Willy exclaimed. His dark eyes lighted with excitement as he looked at Anne. "Would you like to pick which one to stay in?"

Anne felt her heart sink. "Oh no," she tried saying nicely; "you can pick which one for me to stay in."

Willy laughed. "Don't be silly! You have to choose; they're absolutely wonderful!"

And with that, he walked quickly ahead, taking charge of leader of the group. Anne rolled her eyes and followed the small feet of Charlie.

"Um…Willy?" she called ahead.

Willy continued to walk across the green meadow. "Yes?"

"We really don't have to do this. I mean…sixty-three rooms. You can just pick out the best one," she said with a weary laugh.

"Oh, it won't take long. Don't you worry. If you see one you like, just holler out to me."

And off the three of them went across the fake meadow of treats and goodness. Willy was making quite long strides, and it was taking a lot for Charlie and Anne to keep up with him.

"Could you slow down?" Anne asked breathlessly.

Suddenly, Willy stopped, and he turned towards the two of them. His smile was big, and Anne could see each and every white tooth on his top row. "Would you like to take the glass elevator?" Willy asked as if he was offering to show heaven to them.

Charlie gasped as Anne said, "What's that?"

The two of them stared at her as if she were missing an eye. "What?" she said defensively. "I don't know _everything_ about the factory, like you two."

"Well, it's in the papers…all the time," Charlie said, his eyes wide as could be.

Will beamed. "It's true. It's one of my most aesthetic accomplishments of the factory."

"You bet it is," Charlie agreed.

Anne was starting to feel quite irritated. "Well, where is it?" she asked in a strained voice.

Willy and Charlie began to laugh, and Anne could feel the anger bubbling inside her. "What?...What's so funny?"

Charlie continued to laugh, but Willy stopped. "It's right in front of you, silly."

Anne stared ahead, and all she saw was the vast meadow of candy. She turned back to Willy. "I don't see anything."

Willy laughed again. "I have that problem, too." He walked a couple steps forward. "All you have to do is step ahead and…"

Anne, feeling quite impatient with these unclear answers, walked forward quite quickly. All she heard was Willy cry out, and Charlie tried to grab her arm. It was too late. With a deafening _thunk_, Anne walked right into solid wall. A throbbing pain went through her head, and she fell to the ground right onto her backside.

The boys quickly bent over her, the laughter completely gone from their voices.

"Are you okay?" Charlie asked hurriedly.

"Anne?" Willy said.

Anne opened her eyes and could almost see stars in her vision. Her head still throbbing, she quietly groaned and lifted her hand to her head. Already, a bump was starting to form on the top of her forehead.

"Told you it was there," Willy said.

Anne gave him a death glare but still decided not to move.

"Oh, that's going to be a nasty bump," Charlie said sympathetically. "Do you need help up?" he asked, reaching down his arm.

"Just wait a moment," Anne muttered. "I'm only half-conscious."

It took a second for her vision to clear up some more, and then she held her arms up so as Willy and Charlie could help her. They gently lifted her up but still made sure to hold onto her as she got to her feet.

"Is that okay?" Charlie asked.

"Yes, it's fine. Just don't let go yet."

The two of them held onto her with bated breath. Anne could almost hear the laughter in their breaths; the two of them were dying to burst into excited giggles and laughter. Anne wouldn't allow it.

"Oh, God! It hurts so badly!" She put her hand dramatically against her forehead.

Again, all amusement left their tones. They drew closer to her. "Do you need to lie down?" Charlie asked.

"No…no…it's fine, it's fine." Anne grinned on the inside.

Charlie turned to Willy. "Willy, just pick a room you think she'd like best, and let's let her lie down."

Willy sighed. "But…it has to be…"

"Now!" Charlie interrupted.

Willy started making quiet, bitter remarks under his breath, and with Charlie, led Anne into the glass elevator.

"Now…which one would she like the best?" Willy muttered to himself, lightly brushing his fingers against the thousands of buttons.

Anne looked around her in awe, still holding onto Charlie. "How many buttons _are there_ in here?"

"Four thousand and ninety-eight," Willy said in a rush. "I made sure to put them everywhere: on every wall, the ceiling, even the floor."

Sure enough, there were packs of lighted buttons illuminating the small space. Anne couldn't help but be amazed by how brilliant this machine was. She read some of the rooms next to the buttons: Fudge Mountain, Fruit Punch Faithful, and Flying Milky Ways.

Finally, Willy cried out, "This one! It's perfect!"

And with that, the elevator shot up into the air. Anne lost balance and fell down to the ground, bringing Charlie with her.

"Woops!" Willy said, guiltily laughing. He walked over to help them up. "Sorry, I forgot to mention that the ride is a bit bumpy."

"A bit?" Amanda asked bitterly.

The elevator was now moving like a roller coaster. Willy tried to help Anne up, but she chose to stay on the floor; it felt safer there. Every now and then, Anne would see a glimpse of an eccentric room. They passed through what might have been the Flying Milky Ways room. She saw floating chocolate bars on the other side of the room. Her eyes were widened with the wonders of the chocolate factory. All of it was pretty amazing.

"Oh…here's the floor with all the guest rooms," Willy said.

The elevator was now flying through what looked like the longest hotel hallway Anne had ever seen. Each door had a different color and room number on it. She turned her head excitedly as they passed a translucent door.

Suddenly, the elevator screeched to a halt, and Anne made sure to hold tightly onto Charlie's foot.

"Here we are: Amanda's new room!"

They stepped out of the elevator, Anne touching the tender spot on her head. Pain shot through it, and she immediately took her hand down.

The three of them were standing in front of a forest green door. It almost had a camouflage look, with light green vines randomly stretching across it. The door handle had a very real-looking snake twisted around it.

"Are you…_quite_ sure I would like this room?" Anne asked nervously.

"I'm almost certain of it." And with that, Willy flung open the door.

Anne stepped in front of Charlie and Willy and felt her mouth fall open. What she saw was absolutely amazing!

No longer were they in a chocolate factory; the three of them were now in the rainforest. As Anne entered the room, her feet crunched on flourishing, umbrella leaves. She lifted her head to see the top of the ceiling, but it was not in sight. All she saw was the canopy of the forest. A slight vision of blue sky peeked through the different branches of the trees. The atmosphere was completely different. It was much warmer, yet Anne could feel the moisture in the air.

In the corner of the room lay Anne's bed, yet it was no ordinary bed: a wooden staircase carved into a tall tree, at least forty feet tall, which stopped at one of the most fantastic tree houses Anne had ever seen. It was about as big as the whole downstairs of the Buckets' house.

Randomly, stout tree trunks were spread throughout the room to serve as seats. Flowery bloomed from different areas of the green grass. As Anne walked further in, she heard the different calls and cackles of the birds flying through the canopy. Even the roar of a jaguar echoed through the bushes.

Willy stepped up behind Anne. "Do you like it?" he asked in a hushed voice.

"It's the most wonderful thing I have ever seen in my life."

Willy snickered. "It gets better." He walked a little ahead of her and pointed to the tree house. "Inside the actual house is your bed. I hope you're okay with a hammock."

Anne merely nodded and continued to stare at her surroundings. Willy continued to talk.

"On this wall over here, behind this vine…yikes, that's big…is a switch. It's not for lights or anything; the atmosphere changes with the day. The switch can make it rain."

Anne turned to him excitedly. "Make it rain?"

"Ooooo," Charlie cooed from the doorway.

Willy smiled. "Yes…turn it on whenever you'd like." He walked back over to where Anne was standing. "Well, does it meet your standards, Anne?"

Anne had to admit it; Willy had made a wonderful choice. Even though she hadn't seen any of the other guest rooms, it seemed like this would always be her ideal room as a child.

"It's perfect, Willy." She couldn't say it to his face, yet she met every word of it.

She could almost sense the satisfied smile on Willy's face. "Well, I'm glad." He waited for her to say something, yet she remained silent. Only the howl of a monkey echoed through the room. "Would you like to lie down for a while?"

Suddenly, Anne remembered the reason why they had come here in the first place: her head. Pain shot through it again as her thoughts strayed back to it. She put her hand to the spot. "Oh…yes…I think that'd be nice."

"Do you want me to escort you to the tree house?" Willy asked politely.

"Oh…no, you don't have to."

"I'd like to."

And with that, Willy took the crevice of Anne's arm and started to help her walk up the stairs of the tree house. He quickly turned his head towards Charlie and said, "You can wait for me in the chocolate room if you'd like, Charlie."

All Anne heard were the door close and the footsteps of the small boy running down the hallway.

As Willy continued to escort her up the steps, Anne observed him from the corner of her eye. He was walking with such carefulness, such precision, that it almost seemed like he really cared for her safety. Anne couldn't help but feel a sense of security as Willy's pleasantly warm arm rested against hers.

"Here we are!" Willy vociferated, holding his arms out to his surroundings.

Anne walked forward into the main room of the tree house and saw that it had its own personal kitchen. There was a dainty setting for the eating place, and there were plenty of items to make food with. The windows in the kitchen allowed a wooden pipe to protrude over the sink.

"That's for your water," Willy pointed out. "You just have to pull it out to get the water flowing; it's the same in your shower."

"I see," Anne said quietly.

Willy walked in advance, pointing out the other rooms. "In here is your sitting room: I didn't put in a television; it didn't really fit the atmosphere. There are plenty of books for you to read, though."

"Thanks," Anne said, looking at the comfortable reading room. It had light yellow furniture with an area to read and relax. She felt the desire to stop, but Willy continued on throughout the house.

"Right here is your bed. Listen, I know it's only a hammock, but at least you'll be…_hanging around _all night" And with that he began to laugh hysterically. It had seemed he was finding the appropriate time to state the joke. For dramatic affect, he grabbed onto his stomach and began to slap his knee.

Anne just stood there, awkwardly laughing, trying to look like she had enjoyed that joke. It must have not been convincing, because Willy looked up with a chapfallen look on his face.

"That wasn't funny for you, was it?"

Anne, taken aback, struggled for words. "Oh…no, um…no, of course not."

"You hated it."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did. You don't like any of my jokes."

"That's not true," Anne said, patting Willy on the arm. "I like many of your jokes."

He tore his arm away. "You're a liar!" he stated with actual acrimony.

At first, Anne did not say anything. She just watched Willy with bated breath as he huffed angrily in silence, waiting for Anne to start the apologizing.

_"Well…I have nothing to be sorry for."_

However, as she looked at Willy, she couldn't help but feel sorry. She had been pretty rude to him. She wasn't the kindest person, and all of this fake kindness was getting difficult for her, but she started to feel a kind of strange connection with Willy.

"Willy…" Anne started timidly.

"Don't feel like you have to give me any explanations," Willy said, walking back towards the steps.

"Wait!" Anne cried out, walking towards him.

He stopped, but still faced away from her, his shoulders hunched and his back heaving with each breath he took.

She sighed and let her hands fall down to her side. "I'm sorry," she said faintly. Willy didn't move, but his heavy breathing stopped. She tucked her brown hair behind her ears as she still ranted. "But I can't help it that I'm not used to people like you. I don't mean it like that," she said hurriedly as Willy turned towards her. "I mean…" It was difficult for her to give compliments to anyone. She took a deep breath. "You're the nicest man I know," she said simplistically.

Neither of them said anything for a moment. The words seemed to sink into both of their skins. "What'd you say?" Willy finally asked.

"I said you're the nicest man I know," Anne muttered, looking down at her flats.

Willy shook his head in disbelief. "I thought that's what you said."

Anne couldn't think of anything else to say. She looked at Willy, who was still scratching his head, his brows furrowed. She huffed in annoyance and turned to go to her hammock, but Willy spoke up.

"That's kind of sad."

These words surprised Anne, and she turned back towards him. "Sad?"

Willy nodded, his eyes still clouded over with thought. However, he stepped closer to her but still avoided eye contact. "How many days have you been here?"

"Two," Anne answered instantly.

Willy nodded his head. "Thought so." With that, he started back towards the stairs.

"Wait a minute!" Anne called. Willy stopped and turned around. "Why'd you ask me that?"

"It's really sad that you've known me for two days, and I'm the nicest man you've ever met."

Anne's heart immediately dropped. It was like a wave of sorrow, anger, and realization hit her. She had been surrounded by heartless guys for all of her life, and now she had finally met a sensible man. But he wasn't a man; he didn't understand what the real world was, and that's why he was so naïve.

"Jesus, Anne." Anne looked up as she heard Willy swear for the first time. He had had a slight shade of amusement on his face as he made the last comments, but it what was on his face now that made Anne get chills up her arms: sympathy.

He sighed and shook his head. "What kind of people do you hang out with?" His chocolate, brown eyes bore into her, and she had to look down to avoid his gaze.

Finally, she heard the clicking of his shoes as he walked down the wooden stairs. Anne walked to the doorway and watched his retreating back at the time that he made it to the hallway door.

He looked back up at her for a second, and Anne stared at him with an expressionless face. He lifted his hand, grabbed the hat on his head, and tweaked it towards her. Willy set it back down on his perfectly curved hair and walked out of the room.

Anne stood in the doorway for a second, listening to the calls of the monkeys and birds. Their songs made a strange melodic song throughout the trees. Anne watched the door, almost expecting it to open again with Willy coming in stating, _"Just kidding! Got ya!"_ It didn't.

Anne walked over to the hammock, slid off her flats, and laid back into the well-off netting of her new bed. She lay on her side and watched the last couple minutes flash through her mind.

Closing her eyes, one tear slid down the right side of Anne's face.

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_Bring Bring. Bring Bring._

Anne sat up with a jolt, her eyes opening to the darkness. "How long was I asleep?" she asked herself, swinging her legs over the hammock.

Her phone rested on the table beside her, and she stood up to pick it up. "Hello?"

"Anne?"

Anne sighed. "Hello, Patrick."

"Nice to talk to you too. Why the hell didn't you explain yourself with your text?"

Anne groaned and rubbed her head, but Patrick continued to blabber. "I specifically told you to call me every day and explain to me what was happening."

"Patrick!" Anne exclaimed, cutting him off. "It's only been two days."

"'Only two days?!' 'Only two days'?! Where do you get off saying that?!"

Anne rolled her eyes and walked into the reading room. The lights had automatically lit themselves and she sat down in one of the pleasurable, yellow couches. "I have given you the best story of your life!" Patrick continued, "and this is how you repay me: by ignoring my calls and texts."

"I haven't ignored your calls," Anne said indignantly.

"Oh, really? Then why didn't you answer your phone about two hours ago?"

"I was asleep for Christ's sake! I'm allowed to do that, aren't I?"

"Not in the middle of the day! Why the hell were you sleeping when you could have been interviewing?!"

Anne huffed vexidly. "_Because_ I slammed my head into Willy's glass elevator. It really hurt actually; I think I still have to put ice on it."

Only three words seemed to have registered into Patrick's mind. "Willy's glass elevator?! Oh my, have you been in it?"

"Yes! I have been in it."

"What was it like?"

"Covered with buttons…fast…bumpy…"

"That's it? You've double majored in journalism and creative writing and that's all you're going to say about the elevator."

"Patrick…is there any other reason you called besides torturing me?" Anne complained.

"Not particularly," Patrick said in a smug voice.

"Then…if you don't mind, I'm going to go have some dinner with the Buckets."

"The who?"

"The Buckets…the people you're forcing me to lie to."

Patrick didn't say anything, and Anne realized her mistake. She sighed. "I didn't mean it like that."

"I sure hope so," Patrick said in a deadly voice. "Because I am not paying you to feel bad for some trailer-happy family. You got that?"

"Yes," Anne hissed.

"Good. Call me tomorrow with more updates."

Anne shut her phone without saying goodbye and slammed it on the table. All the stress flushed to her head and she put her hand to the pain. It was time to get some ice for it.

She walked out of the sitting room and to the doorway of the wooden stairs. Suddenly, she heard a crunching noise as she stepped on something on the first step.

Looking down, Anne saw that there was a bag of ice sitting plainly below her. On top of it was a small note where dark pen was scribbled on it. It said, "To Anne…From Willy."

Anne reached down and picked up both items. She first opened the card: "Anne, what I said before might have been a little harsh. I did not mean it to sound that way. I hope that when you come to dinner tonight, you will not be cross with me. To make sure you are feeling better, I took the liberty of bringing you some ice for your head. I hope it makes it better."

Anne looked down at the ice and felt a mixture of gratefulness and shame. No matter how much she wanted this story, she couldn't help but feel awful as the pleasurable coldness melted the pain away on her head.

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"Anne! How are you feeling?!"

When Anne had walked through the door of the Buckets', Mr. and Mrs. Bucket had stepped away from the counter to discourage over her.

"I'm fine," she said, holding up her hands. "Once I put the ice on it, it felt much better."

Charlie was sitting at the dinner table with a grin on his face. He waved excitedly, and she waved back half-heartedly.

"Well, sit down, dear. Dinner's almost ready," Mrs. Bucket said smiling.

Anne took the seat beside Charlie, and Mr. Bucket sat across the table from them.

The two of them began to talk, and Anne watched them with interest. Both of them were smiling at each other with so much love in their eyes. Mr. Bucket almost had sparkles of pride in his eyes as he stared at his son.

Right as Mrs. Bucket set down the food, the bathroom door opened, and Wily stepped out, wiping his hands on his suit.

"Pardon me; must have been the Ding berries the Loompas made me try."

He stopped in his tracks as he saw Anne sitting at the table. Everyone else went quiet and watched the two of them staring at each other.

Anne could see the anxiety in his eyes, almost as if he was saying, _"What does she think of me now?"_

Their eyes remained locked on each other, and the stiffness in the room was unbearable. Finally, Anne slowly stretched her mouth into a smile. The corners of Willy's mouth twitched, and as if he had been granted permission, he took the seat next to Anne's.


	6. A Walk with Willy

A Walk with Willy

A Walk with Willy

The dinner with the Buckets was, Anne hated to admit it, absolutely wonderful. Each and every minute of speaking with them was like talking to a family she had never really known. At times where she would usually fake a laugh, she found herself genuinely laughing.

"Do you want anything else to eat, dear?" Mrs. Bucket asked, holding out a plate to Anne.

"Oh no," Anne groaned, putting her hand to her stomach. "I'm fine; thank you."

"How about you, Willy?"

Willy held up his hand. "I told you; those Ding berries did no justice for me."

Anne snorted into her drink, and the whole table began to laugh again.

Mr. Bucket ceased his laughing and looked at Anne. "You're all situated in then, Anne? Everything is to your liking?"

"Everything is great! I absolutely love the room." At the corner of her eye, she saw Willy grin.

"Great," Mr. Bucket said. "I'm happy for that."

Mrs. Bucket stood up from her spot. "Charlie, you'll help me clean?"

Charlie stood up quickly and reached for Anne's spot.

"Oh, that's fine. I'd love to help, Mrs. Bucket," Anne gently called to her.

Mrs. Bucket, now at the sink, called over her shoulder, "No need, darling. You and Mr. Wonka can go off and do whatever you were doing earlier today."

Willy stood up. "Really, Mrs. Bucket, I'd love to help also."

Mr. Bucket now held up his hand. "The hosting family does their own dishes," he said sternly. He then smiled. "Go on. You'll make it up to us later, Willy."

Willy smiled and looked down at Anne. "Shall we?" he asked, pointing at the door.

Anne nodded and pushed the chairs out of the way to get to the front door. Making sure she said her gratitude and farewells to the grandparents, Anne stepped out of the Buckets house onto the edible, green grass.

"Well that was extraordinarily tasty!" Willy said, shutting the door behind them.

Anne smiled at him, and then her gaze shifted slightly down, feeling embarrassment. She wasn't sure why she found herself blushing, but the note Willy gave her flashed through her mind.

"You don't have to thank me, Anne."

These words surprised her so much, Anne snapped her head up. Willy was staring at her with a slight half grin on his face. "Excuse me?" she asked quietly.

Willy sighed and slid his hands into his coat pockets. "There are three steps to embarrassment: the first is looking down in a shifted gaze; the second is either biting your lip or playing with your hands; the third is blushing."

Anne dared not to look down, but she could feel her face flushing with red again. "I don't think I'm embarrassed."

Willy's teeth dazzled with a huge smile. "I think you are," he said quietly.

Anne kept her face still for a moment, but then a slight laugh came out. "Maybe I'm a _little_ embarrassed."

The two of them laughed together, while Anne tried to get over her moment. She shook out her hands and pushed her hair out of her face. "I just…I want you to know that your letter meant a lot to me."

Willy stared at her.

Anne said, "And the ice helped a lot too."

Willy smiled. "I'm glad."

Both of them stood there awkwardly, waiting for the other to say something. Anne tried to find words to project, but so many different possibilities were running through her head, she found it tough to find one to say.

"Maybe I need to…" she blurted out.

"Why don't we…?" Willy asked at the same time.

They both stopped and laughed nervously. Willy's dark eyes bore into Anne's. "Go ahead," he said.

"No, you go."

"I insist. It's all you."

Anne sighed. "All right," she said quietly. She got the courage to look Willy in the face. "Maybe I need to learn more of the factory."

Willy's eyes widened.

"I mean," Anne continued, "if we are ever going to make this stay enjoyable for me, I need to do something that will take up most of my time. I think learning more of the factory's secrets will help with that." She felt a stab of guilt as she said the words.

Willy grinned. "Well, you know how happy I'd be to do that for you, Anne. What would you like to know?" He stood there like he was asking a kindergarten class a question about the alphabet.

Anne had to smile. "Well…" She searched her mind for a question Patrick would love to hear her ask. "Where do your workers come from?"

"Oooo," Willy said excitedly. "Good question. Shall we?" He pointed at the walkway.

"Sure!"

The two of them walked down onto the path of the edible room, Willy telling the story of his strange, but intriguing Oompa Loompas.

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"You drank from it?!"

Willy nodded his head with a slightly amused look, yet his mouth was in the shape of a frown.

"I can't believe you drank from it!" Anne cried out, putting her hand to her head.

"I had to! For the good of my factory," Willy said defensively.

"You drank caterpillar juice for the good of your chocolate factory?"

Willy laughed. "Well, of course!" he said in a high-pitched tone.

Anne stared at him. "You really would do anything for your factory, wouldn't you?"

Willy answered, "Well…what else do I have to do in my life?"

Anne shrugged her shoulders and looked ahead at the chocolate waterfall. "Oh, I don't know: do more hobbies, travel, get married, have children…?"

She looked at up Willy who was shaking his head and smiling. "None of that is for me."

Anne felt her heart slightly sink. "Really?"

"Yes. I mean, really, how hard would it be to manage children in this type of atmosphere? I'd go crazy!" He began to laugh, and Anne had to hold back the words running through her head.

"Yes, but, then you wouldn't have to worry about passing on all of your work to Charlie; it would just all go to your children."

Again, Willy shook his head. "No…no…"

Anne smiled softly. "What? Tell me your reasoning, Mr. Wonka."

Willy's face turned slightly redder as he continued to talk. "It's just…well…I don't know. I have a reason for not creating my own little inventions…it's just too complicated to explain to you."

"What?" Anne persisted.

Willy looked away from her and up at the waterfall.

"Willy?..." Anne taunted.

Reluctantly, his eyes shifted towards her.

She smiled. "You know…there are three steps to embarrassment: the first is glancing down away from said person one is talking to; the second is playing with one's hands; the third is the reddening of the face."

When Anne stopped her imitation of Willy, she saw that he was laughing and shaking his head, still looking away from her. "Come on!" she persisted. "Just tell me what you're thinking." Mentally, she reminded herself to not forget any of his words.

Willy sighed. "It's just that…" He stopped and looked down at himself.

"What?!"

"Look at me!" Willy blurted out. Anne stared at him. "It's not like I'm the best-looking man in England! Every day whenever I used to walk around town, people used to stare at me like I was some loony TV star, like people you see on reality television. After hearing that, does that surprise you that I've never gotten married, or that I've never had any children? I mean, come on, Anne!"

Willy said all these words with a slightly dazed smile on his face, yet by the end of his rush, his face looked somber and hit with true realization.

Anne stood there, not knowing what to say. She looked at the paleness of his skin and the cupped bob of his hair and quickly looked away when she realized how obvious she was being.

"I never meant to…"

"You didn't, silly."

She looked back up at him, and he was smiling at her: a genuine smile. A smile that she never saw in any normal people. If this was what was considered a smile from a crazy person, she didn't want one from any sane people. Willy was staring at her, like he knew what she was thinking. As he continued to grin, she didn't look at his skin of doll-like hair; she looked at the softness of his eyes and the dimples of gayness from his smile.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

Slowly, Willy's smile started to fade. "For what?"

"That you've never had anyone."

Without pause, Willy smirked again. With a wave of his hand, he said, "Oh, that's no problem! I'm fine with that now."

They silently walked on, the spray of the chocolate waterfall hissing along their feet.

"I've never had one either," Anne said tranquilly, staring at the frothy waves.

Willy turned to her. "What'd you say?"

"I said I've never had one," she said louder. "I mean, yes, I've dated before, but none of them have ever loved me." She laughed bitterly. "Who am I kidding? I never loved any of them either. I just tried to convince myself that I did. I used to spend mornings staring at them, thinking in my head, 'Why are they here? Do I really love them?' I used to do that each and every morning, and every time it resulted in the same thing."

"What was that?" Willy asked interestedly.

"I packed their bags and made them move out."

"Oh."

Willy's cane pushed against the candy necklace path, leading them back to the Buckets' house.

"Willy?"

"Hmmm?"

"Do you eat candy every day?"

Willy nodded his head vigorously. "I have a piece of candy from at least 57 of my rooms." When he saw that Anne was staring at him in shock, he shrugged his shoulders. "What?"

"'57 rooms?'"

Willy nodded.

"How do you not have any cavities?" she asked, staring at his pure white teeth.

Willy laughed. "A lot of dental work. You see, my father always told me that…" He suddenly broke off, and his face became stone expressionless. "Told me that…"

Anne eyed him. "Told you what…?"

Willy looked at her with hazed eyes. "Hmmm….? Oh…yes!" he exclaimed, getting out of his trance. "Well, you see, I brush my teeth four times a day and wear my blasted retainer that I hate so much!" He went off into a stream of laughter.

"And about your father…?"

"What about him? Anyway…!" Willy said, changing the subject. "Your canines aren't so bad yourself!"

Immediately, Anne closed her mouth.

"No…really!" Willy said laughing. "They're not one of the average square-box shaped teeth, yet they are very proportional to your lip size and the situation of your mouth on your face."

"Um…thank you?"

"No problem! Now, if you could…open your mouth."

"No, sir!" The two of them stopped walking, and Anne's hands flew to her mouth as Willy reached to touch her lips.

"Really! I've learned how to study the teeth from an old friend. I'd really like to do this."

"Then do it on someone else!" Anne cried, still covering her mouth. "I'm not letting you touch my teeth, Willy."

"Oh, please, Anne. I know a lot about canines." He tried to pry her hand off of her mouth, but she clamped on tightly.

In muffled tones, Anne let out streams of laughter and petty cries for help. Willy crouched over her, determined to look inside her mouth. "Get…off…me!" Anne yelled, her lips tightly together.

Willy simply laughed and tried to hold onto Anne's arms so as to make her let go of her mouth.

Suddenly, a small cough came out of nowhere from behind them. Anne screamed bloody murder and let go of her lips. Willy also jumped, and the two of them turned around to see who had alarmed them both.

Their eyes went downcast and one of the Oompa Loompas was standing there, eyeing them with the slightest bit of suspicion in his eyes.

"Oh, hello there. You alarmed us!" Willy said breathlessly.

The Oompa made a strange snake-like movement with his right arm, and Willy nodded vigorously.

"I'll be there a in a minute."

The Oompa's eyes fell on Anne, and she felt like his eyes were looking into her mind. She tried to shut off shameful thought, but he seemed to be x-raying her. Finally, he turned around and walked back down the candy path.

Willy laughed nervously. "Well, then. Sorry about that."

Anne gave him a weak smile and then looked back down at the path. A bright pink chunk of candy necklace was facing up towards her, calling her name.

"What did he want?" Anne tried to ask casually, yet her voice slightly shook.

"Oh! He wanted me to go to Fudge Mountain with him immediately; there appeared to be an avalanche," Willy said with a laugh. As soon as he stopped laughing, he began to tap his cane repeatedly against his shoe.

"That sounds pretty urgent," Anne said.

Willy nodded. "Yes…" he said absentmindedly.

Anne stared at him for a moment. "Don't you want…to…you know?" she stammered.

Willy's expression was blank. "What?"

"Don't you think you should go?"

Willy stared at her for a second, and then, as if a light bulb had went off in his brain, his face brightened with realization. "Oh, yes! I see what you mean." He tweaked the top of his hat and pointed in the direction of where his Oompa Loompa had just walked away. "I better go, then!"

"All right."

Willy went to cross back over the bridge, still tapping his cane like someone suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder. Anne watched his retreating back, still feeling a little embarrassed from what had just happened.

Suddenly, Mr. Wonka stopped in his tracks and dramatically swung around. "Would you like to come with?" he called out to Anne.

"Hmmm?"

"I said, would you like to come with me to Fudge Mountain? It's pretty exciting."

"Oh," Anne said taken aback. "No. You go ahead. We'd probably be back pretty late, and I had a rough day with my head and all."

Willy absently waved his hand. "Don't be silly; you'll forget all about your head if you come with me."

Anne still shook her head. "I have a lot of things to do." And it was true. She needed to get all of today's events on a sheet of paper before she forgot it all.

"Do it later!"

"Ummm…" Anne groaned.

Willy nodded his head excitedly. "You know you want tooooo," he said tauntingly.

Anne stared at him. "I do, but…"

"No buts. Just come with me."

Willy stared at her, with a leering smile on his face. Anne looked into the back of her mind and saw Patrick's contradicting face glaring at her. She sighed at the thought of all the work she would have to do at the tree house. Her eyes fell on Willy's face again and saw his dazzling, white teeth beaming at her. As if it were contagious, a smile spread across Anne's face.

"Do I take that as a yes?"

Anne sighed. "Well…"

"Great!" Willy cried out. He approached her, holding out his hand for her to take. "You'll love it! You'll absolutely _love _it!"

She grabbed hold, and Willy was off. He almost sprinted over the bridge back towards the Buckets' house. Anne's arm was already beginning to ache.

"Fudge Mountain is one of my proudest achievements. It was one of the first rooms in the factory that I put together. It holds about thousands of tons of fudge. You can't even see the tip of the mountain; that's how big it is."

They were now passing the small house, heading towards the main door of the edible room.

"It holds about every kind of fudge. My Oompa Loompas just love it. Whenever they need time to get away from work, they go on a little hike on the mountain. It also provides an unlimited supply of sugar to keep them going to the top of peak. It really is big!"

"Willy?!" Anne suddenly cried out.

Willy flew around, completely bewildered. Anne pointed down at her hand.

"Oops! Sorry!" Willy said, letting go of her hand.

In his excitement, Willy had squeezed Anne's hand until it had turned a faint shade of purple. Anne brought it to her chest. "It's okay. You don't need to hold onto me anymore."

"Of course! Well, we've reached our destination anyway." Willy smiled at her. "Don't bump your head again." And then he laughed.

Anne looked ahead at what she had thought was bare grass, but she could see the faint outline of the glass elevator, waiting for its occupants to step inside.

"Well, go ahead," Willy said, pointing through the doors.

Anne made sure to be cautious when climbing through, and then she squeezed into the small, exquisite elevator. The flashing buttons winked at her, making her feel petty and little. It didn't help when Willy's tall form entered the elevator, having to duck through the entrance.

"Let's see…let's see…" he muttered to himself, his fingers brushing gently against the buttons.

"How can you possibly remember where each room is?" Anne asked.

Willy just looked over his shoulder at her with a blank stare.

"Yeah, I know. I shouldn't have asked; continue."

Willy turned back around to keep searching. "Oh!" he suddenly cried out. "Here it is!"

The button was pushed and the elevator shook. "Now, hold on," Willy said cautiously.

The doors closed, and the elevator suddenly shot into the air. The gravity weighed on Anne, and she grabbed Willy's arm to gain balance. "Oh my goodness!" she said breathlessly.

"You'll get used to it," Willy said, laughing.

Again, the elevator made a sharp turn causing Anne to continue her nervous gasps. She grasped on to Willy's secure arm for dear life throughout the ride of her life.

Left, right, down, left, right…Anne soon lost count. The elevator was moving so fast, Anne only caught short glimpses of the rooms they were shooting through.

"Almost there."

Anne soon realized she wasn't scared anymore. Her breaths were coming easier, and her composure became as dormant as Willy's. She began to enjoy the sharp turns and plummeting drops. Just as she was about to yell out an excited yelp, the elevator came to a slow stop in what looked like a completely white room.

"We're heeere!" Willy cried out.

He stepped forward, and Anne suddenly realized why she had felt so safe. Willy had put his other hand on top of the one she had used to grasp his arm. When he stepped forward, the feeling of security suddenly left her, and her hand felt much less warm.

She stood in her spot, staring down at her vacant hand.

"Anne?"

Anne looked up and saw that Willy was staring at her. "Are…you okay?"

Anne stared at him for a second. "Oh yes!" she said, coming out of her trance. Her hand fell to her side. "I'm fine…really. Sorry about that." She walked forward out of the elevator.

Right as she stepped into the new room, the inside of Willy's hands was all she could see. "Willy!"

"Come on; I want it to be a surprise."

"It'll be a surprise without you covering my eyes."

Willy snorted. "Don't complain, Anne. Walk forward," he said instructively.

Anne sighed and took a step forward, letting Willy guide her. She very slowly followed his orders, taking baby steps in the alien room. "Please be careful!" she said for the fourth time.

"Anne, just trust me! Geez!"

They took a couple more steps, and finally, Willy stopped. "Okay! Here we are!" He took his hands off her face. "Fudge Mountain!"

It was incredible! Anne was no longer in a chocolate factory but looking up at one of the most breath-taking mountains she had ever seen. She craned her neck to look at the top of the peak, and it was softly touching wispy clouds. There was no ceiling, only sky. She looked all over the mountain, taking in the brown chocolate color of it. Along the edges, Oompa Loompas were climbing it as if they were on a climbing adventure. Anne looked at the base of the mountain which was only a couple steps away. The fudge bits were shaped into large and smaller rocks, making the mountain look surreal.

"Do you like it?" Willy asked in an excited whisper.

Anne still stared ahead. "It's unbelievable."

He came up beside Anne and smiled at her. "It seems unbelievable," he said, "until you actually go on it."

Anne slowly turned her head towards him and saw that Willy was giving her a knowing look. She started to nervously laugh and shake her head. "No." She looked back up at the peak. "I'm not going up there. There is _no _way that I'm going up there!"

"Why not?"

"Because! Look at it! I can't even see the tip of the mountain. And…and…we don't have any supplies or climbing ropes. How could we possibly be safe?"

"It's made of fudge, Anne. I think we'll be okay," Willy said laughing.

Anne crossed her arms. "You go ahead. I'll watch you safely from here."

"I'm not going on that mountain by myself, Anne."

"Yes, you are," Anne said, nodding her head.

"Anne…." Willy said tauntingly.

"Willy…" Anne said mockingly.

They stared at each other for a second with grins playing at the corner of their lips. Willy's dark eyes bore into hers, slightly twinkling like a child's.

"What if I promise that you will be safe?" Willy asked, uncrossing his arms.

"Pardon?"

"I said, what if I promise that you will be safe? I have been up there plenty of times, and it is worth all the work to see the beautiful view."

Anne looked back up at the peak and could feel the shadow of the mountain on her skin. "I don't know," she said slowly.

"I didn't bring you here to wimp out."

She snapped her head towards him. "I am _not _a wimp!"

Willy put his hand to his mouth. "Oooh, I seemed to have touched a soft spot in Miss Anne here."

Anne's mouth gaped open, but she wouldn't let him see her upset. She turned back towards the mountain with her arms crossed.

Willy slowly walked towards her, circling her like she was his prey. "Am I sensing…_chicken…_ in you?" he asked, bending towards her ears.

She remained silent, an angry smirk on her face.

Willy kept circling, beginning to make clucking noises. "Baaaawwkkk! Chicken! Chicken! Bawwwwk!" His arms began to flap and he was smiling down at Anne. "Chicken!"

"Fine!" Anne suddenly cried out. "I'll do it!"

Willy dropped his arms with a satisfied grin. "Great! Let's go!" he said, pointing towards the base of the mountain.

_There you go! I don't really know where this story is going, but I really appreciate all your reviews. You guys are sooo sweet! Keep reading! It'll get better._


	7. To Heal an Injury

That was a long time of not updating, but now that it is summer, the updating will be much quicker; I promise

_That was a long time of not updating, but now that it is summer, the updating will be much quicker; I promise. Thanks again for all the reviews! I really do appreciate all of them. You guys are sweet._

To Heal an Injury

It had been about half an hour, and Willy and Anne were almost to the top of the mountain. Anne had been surprised to feel sweat gracing her hairline and the crooks of her elbows; it was really a strenuous job to make it to the top of the Fudge Mountain.

"How you doing down there?" Willy called, a couple feet above her.

She panted and puffed angrily. "Fine," she said shortly.

"Don't worry. You'll love the view once we get up there."

Anne couldn't see how wonderful it could be when she barely had the ability to breathe at the moment. She wiped the sweat off her hairline and continued to climb up the slope, reaching for different chucks of fudge.

"Almost there!" Willy cried excitedly.

"Great."

It was a couple more minutes of agony before the two of them finally reached the tip of Fudge Mountain. Willy was smiling down at Anne as she took her final steps to the peak. As she hit the flattened plateau, she let out a sigh of relief and sunk to a sitting position.

"Don't sit down!"

Anne looked up at Willy with daggers in her eyes. "What did you just say?"

"Hey! I don't mean to upset you, Anne, but you really _must_ see the view. That's why I brought you up here in the first place."

She was still breathing heavily. "Really, that's fine. I'll look at it later."

Willy shrugged his shoulders. "Suit yourself."

His tone gave the impression that he felt sorry for her, and she could not stand that above anything else. Amanda gave a huge heave and lifted herself off the ground to look out over the room with Willy.

"Let's see how spectacular this-this…"

It was wonderful.

In some unknown way, Willy had set it up that it looked like they truly were on top of a mountain in the beautiful countryside rather than in a factory room. The sky was blue with wisps of clouds brushing close above them. In the distance, it looked like there were more chains of mountains facing them. The air that hit Anne's face was not air conditioning but fresh air from the outside. Before closing her eyes, she turned her head and looked at Willy in shock. All he did was nod his head with a huge grin.

"How did you do it?" Anne whispered.

"Magic."

She turned to him with a smile on her face. "Magic?" she asked.

He nodded again.

"Willy, I'm not a child. You can _really_ tell me how you did all this."

She was surprised to see a frown cross Willy's face. He turned away from her and looked back out on the scene he had somehow created.

Anne walked closer to him in puzzlement. "What? Aren't you going to tell me?"  
It seemed he wasn't going to talk to her again, but then a look crossed his face. He quickly turned his head to her. "You know? _That's_ the problem with you, Anne."

"Um…_what's_ the problem with me?"

He sighed and looked back out at the mountains in the distance. "You always have to know everything."

She was so taken aback by his words, she could think of nothing witty to say back to him. She merely repeated the words he had said to her. "I always have to know…_everything?_"

"Yes, you always have to know everything."

Silence.

"How do you figure that, Willy?"  
He turned to her again. "Do you really want to know how I figured that out?"  
For a split second, Anne imagined that Willy knew about her being a journalist. She felt her heart clench. "No. I guess I don't really want to know how you figured that out."

He nodded. "Completely understood."

Wonka turned back to the scenery while Anne stood in her place, her head spinning in spot. She wanted to know what he had meant by his last comment, but at the same time, she didn't want to give him the pleasure to find out that she really wanted to know more about her faults.

"It's funny, isn't it?" Willy suddenly asked.

She stared at him. "What is?"

He slowly turned to gaze at her. "Whenever you tell someone something bad about them, they always get quiet." Anne felt her cheeks go red, but Willy continued. "Is that because you know that I'm right, or is it because you never had any idea that you were like that in the first place?"

Anne immediately wanted to agree with the second choice, but then she thought of past times in her life: badgering kids right after a school shooting who had just lost their friends, calling different scientists who knew the true explanation of falling in love with someone, and even calling up her parents to ask how and why they got divorced.

"I want to know everything," Anne said passively.

Willy turned to her with wide eyes. "Hmmm?"

She looked up at him. "I want to know everything."

These words surprised Willy, and he looked slightly uncomfortable. "Well…I didn't mean that you wanted to know _everything_. I just wanted to- …"

"No, you're right," Anne interrupted. "I need an explanation of everything right as it comes. I need straight facts, nothing else. That's all I want to know. That's all I need to know. I don't need anything else."

"You never knew this before?"

"Oh, I knew it!" She grew quieter. "I just never wanted to admit it."

The only sound was the clanking of the Oompa Loompas' hiking gear hitting the fudge in the mountain as they climbed higher and higher.

Willy suddenly said, "You know…we all have mistakes." She looked at him with a grin. "I know that you find that cheesy to hear, Anne, but it's very much true."

"I know it is."

They stood there for a moment in a silent hiatus. Thoughts were rushing through Anne's head that she couldn't really explain.

"How about we sit down?"

"Hmmm?"

She looked up out of her trance and saw that Willy was pointing towards a large boulder that was composed of a very dark chocolate. "Would you like to sit?"

"Oh! Sure."

The two of them sat down together on the rock. Anne curled her legs up onto her lap, and Willy rested his cane on the ground to get situated in a comfortable position as well.

"Willy?"

"Yes?"

Anne hesitated. "What would you say your biggest flaw is?"

Willy slightly laughed, but Anne could hear the nervousness in his voice to answer. "I would have to think _really_ hard about it."

Anne turned to him giggling. "Modest much?" And she playfully hit him on the arm.

He followed suit and began to laugh, but he cleared his throat importantly. "No. I have many flaws indeed. Some of them are just much more discreet than the average person."

"Such as…?"

Willy looked up at the sky with a perplexed look. "Well…let's see." Anne saw he was counting on his one hand. "I'm too honest."

Anne scoffed, and Willy stared at her in surprise. She bit her tongue and stared to shake her head. "Well… _you _know that's true."

He shrugged his smile with a smirk, but then he soon got serious. "And…I'm always too afraid of telling someone how I feel for them."

Anne looked at Willy, her eyes wide. "Are you?"

Willy nodded, not looking at her. "I never have the courage to tell someone I love how much they mean to me. And sometimes it ends up in me losing them. I just never have the right words to actually say it." He broke off, his voice slightly shaking.

Anne gave him a minute to compose himself. She had never seen this side of Willy before, and it was quite strange to actually see him with these types of emotion.

"Do you think…" she started, "that you could show you love them in another way?"

He looked at her in interest. "What do you mean?"  
"I mean…instead of actually saying the words 'I love you,' you could just do something that you know means the world to them."

"I guess I could do that," he said thoughtfully.

Anne smiled. "I suggest you do."

Another moment of silence.

"Anne?"

"Yes, Willy?"

"That's the longest amount of time you have ever stayed pleasant with me."

Anne turned to him and saw that he was grinning broadly at her. The corner of her lips twitched and then broadened into one of the biggest smiles she had ever given him.

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It was about two hours later and they had finally decided to make their descent down the mountain. Anne had realized, regrettably, that she had felt so comfortable when speaking with Willy. It seemed like she was just talking to one of her best friends.

"Be careful, Anne! The descent is much more dangerous!"

"I'll be fine, Willy!"

Willy was a couple feet behind Anne as she made her way down. He kept making nervous remarks to her as she jumped from boulder to boulder.

"Are you sure you wouldn't want to use my cane?"

Anne laughed. "How would that be useful?"

"It works!" Willy said in a hurt voice.

She laughed again and continued to keep going without any outside help.

There were no more Oompa Loompas on the mountain, meaning they had all gone to sleep. Anne figured that it was about midnight. No longer did her head hurt; she had a feeling of absolute lightness as she traveled down Fudge Mountain.

"How long did it take you to put this together?" Anne called out to Willy.

"About two years."

Anne gasped. "Two years," and looked behind her to stare at Willy.

He smiled and nodded his head. "It was a definitely long process."

"I can believe tha- AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

All of a sudden, Anne lost her footing and fell face forward down the mountain. She tried to grab hold of one of the boulders, but she started to roll down the chocolate mounds.

"Anne!" Willy cried out.

She couldn't respond but just kept on screaming. Anne could feel the rocks scratching against her skin, and pain shot up through her body. She continued to fly down the mountain, and then suddenly, her leg got caught around a rather large boulder.

"Ahhhh!" she screamed in agony as knives stabbed at her twisted leg.

It took about two minutes for Willy to reach her. He was sweating quite heavily and was all out of breath. "Anne?" he said, extending his hand towards her. His face was white.

"Oh God," she whispered.

"Oh dear! This is bad."

Anne's clothes were all ripped up, and her arms were quite bloodied. But the worst thing of all was her leg. She was scared to move it.

"Do you think it's broken?" Anne asked, her voice shaking.

Willy gently took her leg and made it so it wasn't twisted around the rock anymore. "Is that better?"

Anne nodded and gritted her teeth in pain.

"Anne, I'm going to have to check to see if it is broken." Her eyes widened. "Do I have permission?"

"No!"

"Anne," he said with a faltering laugh. "It's for _your _benefit."

"Benefit, my ass! You're trying to hurt me!"

Willy laughed again. "Trust me. I don't want to hurt you anymore than you are right now."

He stared at her for a second with his dark, brown eyes. Anne gazed into them, her chest rising and falling quickly. "You promise you won't hurt?"

"I promise," Willy said, putting his hand to his chest.

She sat there breathlessly for a little while more before she sighed regrettably. "Fine. You can check."

He smiled and put his hands gently on her leg. Anne took a sharp intake of breath, and Willy's head snapped up. "Did that hurt?"

Anne shrugged her shoulders. "I think it was mostly because I imagined it hurting."

Willy rolled his eyes with a smirk and continued to go up her leg with his hands. His touch was warm against the clammy cold on her injured leg. As softly as he could, he would squeeze at random points on her lower leg to see her reaction. Only at times would she slightly pull away, and yet, he was still as gentle as he was in the beginning. Finally, he reached her knee and took his hands off her legs.

"So?" he asked, looking at her.

She stared at him. "Well…you're the one that should tell me. You clearly are more of a doctor than I am."

Willy grinned and shook his head. "It's not broken, Anne."

"It's not?"

"No, it's not. You might have just strained a large muscle in it." Anne herself reached forward to start examining her leg. "You should still probably stay off it for a day or two."

She looked up at him at that. "Two days?! You can't be serious, Willy. Two days?!"

He looked bewildered. "What's wrong with that?"

"'What's wrong with that?' I'm only the most stabilized challenged person in the world. There is no way I can't be on my feet for more than half a day!"

Willy laughed. "Well, you'll just have to live with it." Anne's mouth dropped. "Hey, look at it this way." He leaned towards her. "You can take advantage of the Oompa Loompa's hospitality," he whispered.

She sighed. "I guess that's one benefit."

"And here's another."

And with that, Willy stood up from his spot, brushed off his suit, bent back down, and scooped Anne into his arms.

It happened all so quickly that Anne squealed when he picked her up. "What are you doing?" she asked.

He looked her in the face. "What? I thought that you would like it." He was so close to her, she could feel his breath on her face and see the dazzling perfection of his teeth.

She gently laughed at that and looked at the bottom of the mountain. "I can't wait to see how this goes. Knowing my luck, we'll both pitch it and fall down the mountain together."

He started to slowly descend. "Hey! Unlike you, I'm a much stabilized person."

She turned her head to him to see he was grinning expectantly at her. With a laugh, Anne clasped her hands behind Willy's head to be steadier in his arms.

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"Can't we think this over?"

"Anne…"

"Really! We have to think this one over."

"It's my final decision. _You _asked for my doctor advice, and I gave it to you. You should stay in this bed for about two days."

Willy had carried Anne all the way back from Fudge Mountain. They had trekked back into the glass elevator and made it all the way up to her tree house in the rainforest bedroom.

Anne sighed angrily at Willy's last words and looked down into the dark hammock. "It seems so lonely," she whispered.

"I think you're being a _little_ dramatic," Willy said. And with that, he lay her down on the netting bed.

She sagged right down into it with the comfort of it all. With a sigh, she let her leg stretch out, which was still throbbing with pain, and stretched her arms over her head. All thought of recording her memories of that day soared out of her head.

"Is there anything else you need, my dear Anne?"

"Yes," she said grumpily.

"And what is that?"

She looked up at him. "A tour tomorrow," Anne said with a broad smile.

Willy took a deep breath in and answered, "No."

She glared and looked back down in her lap.

"Anne," Willy said laughing, "I'm sorry, but you know that I just want you to not get any more hurt."

"Yeah…yeah."

Without any warning, Willy put his hand underneath Anne's chin and popped it upwards. She was forced to look into his chocolate brown eyes which were twinkling into hers. "Don't give me any attitude, young lady," he whispered.

Anne's voice slightly quivered. "I'll try."

Willy's twinkle suddenly left his eyes, and his gaze swiftly shifted to her lips. As soon as it happened, he coughed and dropped his hand away from her chin to stand up straight. "Well then."

Anne coughed as well and smiled awkwardly at him. The two of them shuffled their hands and tried not to catch each other's gaze.

"Sleep tight then." Willy turned to leave, grabbing his cane and hat.

"Willy!" Anne suddenly cried out.

He stopped and slowly turned around with a beam on his face. "Yes, Anne?"

She smiled. "Thanks a lot for what you did for me." His smile left his face. "It meant the world to me," she finished quietly.

He stared at her for a second before crossing the room to her. It seemed undecided to him for what to do. Willy slightly wavered back and forth in front of her hammock and then finally made up his mind. He picked up her hand and put it to his lips.

"It was my pleasure," he breathed.

Before Anne could make any reply, Willy walked out of the room with a slight bouncier step in his walk. Anne still held her hand in the position Willy had left it as he walked down the steps of her tree house, walked across the grass of the forest, opened the door, and walked into the hallway shutting the door behind him.

It was at that moment she finally allowed herself to let her hand drop. As if expecting to see something there, Anne looked down at the spot Willy had kissed her. She had no idea what was going inside that man's head, but it was beginning to frustrate her very much.

She turned on her side to let herself fall asleep. As Anne's eyelids began to close, she thought back on her last thought. She had to admit that while Willy's thoughts did have a way of frustrating her, but she noticed that they intrigued her as well.

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The sound of a jaguar woke Anne up. Her eyes snapped open and she saw the night table beside her where her cell phone lay. It read that it was 11 in the morning. She yawned slightly and stressed her limbs. She made sure not to move her leg so much.

After sitting up in her bed, she looked down at her injured leg and shocked at the transformation.

The whole right side of her right leg was black and blue. It looked as if it were dipped into paint. She gently ran her finger along it, disbelieving the fact that it was not broken.

"Anne?"

Anne's head swung to the door in fright, but she sighed in relief that she saw it was Charlie.

"Charlie, dear! Forgive me; I did not know it was you."

He was nervously shuffling his feet and holding a bag of ice in his hands. "How is your leg doing?" he asked politely.

She looked back down at the bruising. "I'm going to be honest," she said, looking back up at him. "It looks awful."

The two of them laughed for a minute, but Charlie had crossed over with the ice. "Willy told me to put this on your leg," he stated after sharing their laugh.

Anne thought of the cold sharp pains she had experienced on the mountain the day before. "Um, I'd rather not."

"But Willy insisted!" He held the bag up so she could get a clearer view.

Anne waved her hands. "I know what ice does, darling, but I don't think I have the heart to put that on right now."

Charlie beamed. "Willy told me you'd say that."

Anne cocked her head slightly to the right. "Did he?"

He nodded excitedly.

Anne rolled her eyes and shook her head again. "Well, Willy doesn't know the state of my leg, and you would be so kind as to remind him that I am doing fine."

Again, Charlie smiled. "He said you'd say that also."

Anne groaned. "Is there anything else he would like to say?"

Charlie laughed at that. "Please, Anne. Not only would Willy feel better, but my whole family would be comforted by the fact that you put some ice on your leg."

She stared up at him and could see the innocent twinkle in his eye. She sighed and looked back down at the blue and black of her leg. "Ice will make it better?"

Charlie nodded. "It turns it from black to green, though," he cringed.

Anne looked down at her bruise in repulsiveness. "Then maybe I don't want ice."

Charlie began to tap his feet.

"Ugh," Anne sighed. "Fine, put it on Charlie." He came towards her. "Gently!" she said sharply.

"I know, miss."

Being as gentle as he could, Charlie placed the bag of ice in the middle of her leg. The minute it touched, Anne took a sharp intake of breath, but realized that it felt rather relieving against her injury.

"Is that okay?" Charlie asked quietly.

Anne laid her head back against the hammock. "Yes, that's perfect."

She closed her eyes, hoping Charlie would get the message to leave. She didn't hear him walk away, but she didn't feel like opening her eyes and engaging in conversation again. She was quite tired.

"Miss Anne?"

Her heart dropped. "Yes, Charlie?" she said, her eyes still closed.

He hesitated for a moment. "How do you feel about Mr. Wonka?"

Anne's eyes snapped open, and she saw that Charlie was gazing at her with a nervous smile. "Excuse me?" she asked.

Charlie's face turned a slight shade of pink. "I was just curious to know what you feel about Willy."

She stared at him for a second with a complete loss of words. "Well…" she started.

"I don't mean to be rude," Charlie said quickly.

"No! No…you're…you're not being rude, Charlie…"

"Because if I am, you can just tell me."

Anne slightly laughed. "You're not being rude, Charlie. You're just curious."

He gave a small smile and waited for her response. Anne had no idea what to say. True, she was much more comfortable around Willy now, but that didn't mean that she had any romantic feelings towards him. Charlie was looking at her like he expected a specific answer, but Anne didn't want to lie to him.

"Charlie, dear," she said, sitting up.

He came a bit closer, his hands clasped together in front of him.

Anne smiled. "At this moment, Willy and I are friends."

Charlie was good at covering his reaction. He smiled brightly, but Anne could see the surprise in his eyes. "That's all I was wondering," he said.

"Good," Anne said brightly. "Now, run along, dear. I need to get some more rest."

Charlie nodded and ran across the room to the door. Right before he walked down the stairs, he stopped and turned back to Anne. "Willy will be here soon."

She looked at him and saw that he was smiling knowingly at her. And with that, he ran down the stairs to allow her to get some more sleep.


	8. What Type of Flower One Is

What Type of Flower One Is

**What Type of Flower One Is**

So much had happened, and Anne couldn't really keep up with it. First off, she had been injured for the second time in two days and was forced to stay in her room for 48 hours. The thought of it made her want to puke. And second off, Charlie and his entire family were convinced that she and Willy were having a love affair. The thought of it made her want to laugh…and yet, she couldn't find it amusing in the least.

True, Willy was significantly awkward and much too open when he was with her, but the last couple days had opened up her eyes to a new side of Willy. A side that she had never known existed.

He had saved her from the man who planned to rape her; he showed her around the factory, he gave her a room to stay in, and he helped her with all her injuries. It made her bewildered to see this side of Willy. She wasn't quite used to it.

It had been an hour since Charlie had left, and she really needed to record some things down. Anne picked up the tape recorder next to her and pressed the button with the red dot on it.

Sighing, she put on the gloomiest voice she could muster. "Planning to have no interaction with the factory for another day and a half as I lie in this hammock watching the skin on my leg turn from purple to yellowish-green. Should be exciting."

"Sounds appealing."

Anne's heart dropped as she heard Willy's voice. She instantly stuffed the tape recorder underneath her leg, but she soon realized that he was climbing up the steps and had not seen her recording herself.

He walked into the room with an amused look on his face. "You've come to the point of talking to yourself?"

Anne slightly laughed. "You don't know how uneasy I get when I don't move for more than 12 hours."

As he walked closer, Anne noticed that he was holding a bouquet of wildflowers in his hands. Her mouth gaped open as he shiftily approached her. "I was just…in one of my meadow rooms- and I was planning to-well…here." He held out the flowers to her and the aroma of them filled her nose.

She gratefully looked up at him with a large smile on her face. "They're absolutely beautiful, Willy. I can't believe you did this," she said, gently taking the flowers from him.

Willy grasped his hands together, which were, of course, sitting in his tight, white gloves he always wore. "I thought that you would like them."

As she smelled the flowers, she darted her eyes up to him. "How would you know that?"

He smiled. "You just seem the type of girl who would like wildflowers."

"Meaning…?"

Willy looked down at her for a second, with a slight grin on his face. "Well," he said, sitting beside her on the hammock. "Do you mind?" he asked.

"Not at all," she said laughing.

"Well, let me give you an example. Charlie's mother, Mrs. Bucket is rather old-fashioned and looks well on the past. She is calm, gentle, and very kind-hearted; wouldn't you agree?"

Anne slowly nodded, not sure where he was getting at.

"One day, she made a remark that she hadn't received flowers since the day of her wedding. I, planning to spend the day in one of my meadows, picked an entire bouquet of sunflowers. When I gave them to Mrs. Bucket, she took them with tears in her eyes. She then said, 'These are my favorite.'" He smiled down at Anne.

Anne grinned back, but chose to tease him. "I never said wildflowers were my favorite."

"You didn't have to; I saw it in your eyes."

She had to admit it: wildflowers had always fascinated her above all other flowers.

She sighed. "Well, what personality traits of mine would point to wildflowers?"

Willy laughed. "You really don't know?"

"No," she said eagerly. "Tell me."

He exhaled and drew his hands together again. "Let's see," he said slowly, looking at the wall of her room. "You're independent, unwilling to grow in the same soil as any different flower, stubborn…and…"

"And…?" Anne said grumpily.

He looked at her with bright eyes. "Exceedingly and inescapably unique."

As the words came out, she couldn't help the warm feeling she got in the center of her chest. Trying not to smile, she looked down at her hands. "Unique in a bad way?"

"I think you know I meant in the good way."  
She looked up at him, and the two of them stared at each other for a couple seconds.

Anne looked away first, wanting to ask more. "So, you think Mrs. Bucket got the sunflowers because she's kind, optimistic, and cheerful?"

"You're right on."

Anne nodded, and then a question popped into her mind. "What flower would you be, Willy?"

Willy opened his mouth to answer but then immediately shut it. His eyes were filled with astonishment at her question and bewilderment to his answer. Anne could see that he had nothing to respond back with.

"You've never thought what flower you would be?" Anne asked, with a slightly amused tone.

Willy looked at her, that same look in his eyes. "No one has ever asked me that before."

She laughed. "Well, it's not every day that someone describes what kind of flower you are."

Willy still looked confused and said nothing back to her comment.

Anne moved a little bit so he would look back at her. "Then let me ask you something you would know."

His eyes now filled with eagerness. "All right."

She smiled. "What type of candy would you be?"

Willy let out a booming laugh that Anne had never heard from him before. She joined in with him, but his laugh echoed throughout the entire tree house. After he laughed for a bit, his breath started to come back to him. "I didn't expect that question from you, Anne."

She grinned again. "Come on, I really want to know what type of candy you think you are."

Willy looked up at the ceiling in thought for a minute but then he looked at her with a knowing smirk on his face. "What candy do _you _think I'd be?"

It was as if he had read her mind. The minute she asked the question, the candy that described Willy Wonka had popped into her head. She smiled and looked down at her lap. "I don't know how well you'll agree with me."

"Aw, come on! I won't mind."

She gazed at him for a minute, staring at the wide smile on his face. It made her uncomfortable to describe why he was the candy, but she didn't see any way of getting out of the situation. "I think you're chocolate with almonds or nuts in it."

Willy's smile widened. "Wow. I didn't think you'd think that. Why _do_ you think that?"

This was the hard part. Anne chose not to look him right in the face and just say it quickly. "You can always depend on chocolate being the same, whether it's milk or dark, or even from a different country. Even though it has many different sides to it, there always remains the dependable side to it. You can always trust on it being good. And with chocolate that has almonds, you are so used to it being the same, knowing it has different sides to it, and then all of a sudden, you're biting into an almond, something you really didn't expect. It's a side of the chocolate that you didn't know existed, and you never truly know when you're going to run into that almond or nut. And when you do, you're pleasantly surprised by it. It's something that you like to feel or see." She finally caught his gaze. "It throws you off every time."

Willy was no longer smiling, and Anne felt intimidated by his gaze. He looked confused, yet absolutely engaged in Anne's stare. He was looking at her in a way she had never seen before, like he was finally not the one in control. _"Another almond."_

Without warning, he reached towards her and brushed a lock of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. Anne had expected his touch to be warm, yet it was frighteningly cold. The chill of his finger lingered from the base of her ear all the way to where he rested her hair.

Anne had never felt so embarrassed in her life. She could feel the warmth spread up into her cheeks. Once Willy's hand left her face, she instantly looked down into her lap, clearing her throat. Her heart was pumping against her chest, and she didn't have the courage to look into that doll-like face of his.

Unsaid words were flying between each other, yet neither spoke. It was as if someone had cast a silencing charm over them. Finally, after a minute of awkward silence, Willy stood from the hammock, allowing Anne to rock back and forth.

"Well," he said, clearing his throat. "I better be off." And he smiled that half smile of his.

Anne finally looked up at him. "Yes, I'd better get to sleep."

"Good idea."

He picked up his cane from the floor and walked to the door of the tree house. Before he went down the stairs, he flew around, pointing to the flowers. "I better put those in water first."

"Oh, yes," Anne said, completely oblivious to the fact that she was still holding the wildflowers in her hands.

Willy came towards her and reached for the flowers. As she handed them to him, their fingers brushed again, and Anne felt that same coldness of his hand. They both chose to ignore it, and Willy crossed the room to the kitchen.

As Willy was filling a pitcher with water, Anne's phone started to vibrate beside her in her purse. Just to make sure, Anne looked behind her in the kitchen and saw that Willy was cutting the flowers tips a little bit. She quickly turned back to her phone and saw that Patrick was calling. She groaned in agony. The thought of talking to him was pure hell at this moment.

Knowing he would keep calling, she flipped open her phone and hissed into the speaker, "Hello?"

"Why the hell are you whispering? And what the hell is going on with you out there? I want to know how your story is going." Again, Patrick sounded agitated and annoyed, yet Anne was not in the mood to take it.

"I'll tell you later. I'm not exactly in the best situation."

"What do you mean? I have to know what's been going on."

Willy's steps entered the room, and panic flooded into Anne. "Don't call back!" She shut the phone and put on a smile as Willy appeared beside her hammock, a pitcher in his hand.

"Where would you like me to put these?" Willy asked.

"Um," Anne said, looking for clear places in her room. "Do you think you could put it by that window there? It would look so pretty." She pointed by a window near the front door of her tree house.

Willy smiled and walked over, staring at the purple, pink, and blue of the flowers. He carefully placed the pitcher on the windowsill and stood back to look at the perfection of it all. "It does look good there, doesn't it?" he remarked quietly.

"I think so."

Willy turned back to her. "They're all on their own, by the windowsill."

Anne understood the meaning of his words. "Just like I'll be- for another day and a half."

Willy laughed, walking towards her. "You know that I'll visit you, and I'm sure Charlie and his family will stop by every so often."

She groaned. "Won't you get Mrs. Bucket soon?"

His brow creased. "Why's that?"

"I have to go to the bathroom in a matter of time."

Again, that roaring laugh of his rang through the house. She smiled up at him as his white teeth shone through the light of her rainforest. He stopped laughing, but still kept his wide smile on. "I'll tell her to come here in the next hour; how does that sound?"

"I think that sounds perfect."

Willy didn't allow another awkward moment to happen. He tuned away quickly and walked to the door of the house. "She'll be here very soon." He grinned, turned, and practically ran down the stairs of the tree house.

Anne sighed a sigh she had not known was inside her. The whole half hour she was with Willy, it seemed as if she could barely breathe. That really frightened her. Some of his comments had left her literally breathless. She did not expect to feel that at all with Willy's visits.

It was also as if she had been holding her breath to avoid the awkwardness of the situations. It was all so stressful. Anne knew Patrick was waiting for her to give him every detail of the last two days, but she didn't know if she had the physical and emotional strength to do it.

With huge regrets, she picked up her phone and dialed Patrick's number. He picked up after the first ring.

"What the hell was that? Why did you hang up on me?" he ordered.

Anne exhaled sharply. "I thought you would put two and two together and realize that Willy was in the same room as me."

Patrick didn't say anything for a minute. "Really? What was he doing?"

No one was in the room with her, but Anne could feel her cheeks redden. _"Dang it,"_ she cursed to herself. "Well," she said, trying to make her voice strong, "Willy brought me some flowers because I hurt my leg, and he was putting them in a pitcher of water for me."

Again, Peter didn't say anything, yet Anne could almost hear the curiosity in his hushed silence. He finally opened his mouth. "You and Willy seem to be spending a lot of time together."

"Well, yeah!" Anne said brightly. "We have to! He's showing me around the factory and all that. I mean, he's the only one here that's even close to my age."

"Don't get me wrong, Anne. I _love_ that you are with Willy every second of the day, but I thought I heard…."  
He trailed off, sounding unsure, which was very unlike Patrick. "Lost your train of thought?" Anne teased.

Patrick slightly laughed. "You wish. I was just going to say that you sounded quite- delighted about the fact that you're with Willy every day."

Anne knew what he was getting at. "Patrick, I'm delighted to be with him because he has my story." She quickly looked at the door and then began to talk in a quieter tone. "Willy has many secrets to the factory, and it is my job to figure them out. Isn't that right?"

Patrick answered, "Yes, that is right. But along the way, journalists tend to- tend to- _get involved_ with their story a little too much."

"That's not going to be me," Anne said firmly.

At that, Patrick began to talk in a low, but determined voice. "It better not be you, Anne, because I am paying you so much money for this story. If I find out that you blow it because you got a little crush on Weirdo Wonka, then I am going to have to terminate your position at my office permanently. I hope that we have an understanding here."

Anne felt her heart clench throughout his little rant. Her eyes fell on the wildflowers sitting on the windowsill.

"Anne…?" Patrick said warningly.

She put on her most courageous voice of all. "Of course, Patrick," she said with a slight laugh. "You must have misinterpreted things with Willy and me. There is absolutely nothing going on between us. Trust me on that."

Patrick let out a sigh. "I'm glad to hear that. You're there for a completely different reason."

Anne nodded. "I know."

"Except," Patrick said in a dangerous voice, "don't forget it wouldn't hurt to allow Willy to think that you're interested in him."

She couldn't believe he was telling her this. It took all of her will power not to hang up the phone and go by the window to smell the exotic fragrance of the wildflowers that described her so well.

Patrick went on and on, giving her advice on how to steal a man's heart. Throughout the entire speech, Anne could just see Willy's face if her ever found out about her story. The light would leave his chocolate brown eyes and that wide smile of his would slightly falter and then finally extinguish. The thought of it made her heart drop into the pit of her stomach.

"Are you listening to me, Anne?" Patrick hissed.

"Yes," Anne said immediately.

He opened his mouth to continue, but Anne cut him off. "Patrick, I don't think you need to go on. I know Willy more than you and know exactly what to say to him to get his affections to come out. I already have more out of him than I would expect."

"Like what?"

Anne thought back to the mountain where he had admitted he was scared to tell people how he felt for them. She took a breath to tell Patrick all the details of it but then quickly shut her mouth.

"You know what? I'll give you full details with a little rough draft in a couple days. How does that sound?"

Patrick gave an evil laugh, sounding quite eager. "That sounds delicious, Anne. I will be happy to hear it."

"I'm glad," she said slowly.

The two of them hung up after Patrick reminded her to call him. Anne shut her phone and lay against the back of the hammock. She had never felt so guilty in her life. It wasn't only the thought of betraying Willy that got to her; it was also the thought of betraying the hospitality and kindness of the Buckets. She couldn't even imagine how disappointed they would be in her when they found out she was doing a story behind all of their backs.

Suddenly, Mrs. Bucket walked through the door. Anne slightly jumped in her spot when she saw the pale, short woman walk into her bedroom.

"Hello, Anne," she said kindly.

"Hello."

She walked closer to her, looking at the state of her leg. "Oh, dear. It's not looking too good, is it?"

Anne shook her head with a grim smile. "It looks like it's turning into a fungus."

Mrs. Bucket let out a slight laugh. "Willy told me you needed help going to the bathroom," she said, smiling down at Anne.  
Anne let out a groan with a smile. "I'm sorry that you're the one that has to do it."

At that, Mrs. Bucket slid her hand underneath her back. "Don't worry, dear. I know that if I was in the same state," she looked right at Anne, "you would do the same for me."

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It was nearing dinnertime, and Anne's stomach was grumbling more loudly than she had ever heard it grumble. It had been since Mrs. Bucket visited that Anne had had something to eat. It didn't help that she had nothing but her phone games to distract her.

Anne had already described everything of the last two days onto her voice recorder. She played it back and forth, trying to find unique ways of writing her story.

The tape landed on the part where she described the experience she and Willy had shared on the mountain.

Her recorded voice was quite soft and shook every so often. "Willy tells of my faults. Those will be ignored for the story. Then he goes on to describe his faults." Anne's past voice failed for a second. When she comes back, her voice shakes more significantly than ever before. "He can never tell someone that he loves how much he cares for him."

Anne in present time holds the tape recorder in her hand, staring straight through everything into the distance. Her recorder voice continued to describe how Willy helped her with her fall.

"After falling down and catching my leg around a rather large boulder, Willy then continues to…" The shaking reaches an extreme. The real Anne shakes her head in embarrassment. "Willy then continues to gently lift me up and take me back to my room," tape Anne admits.

"I can't do this," Anne whispers, pressing stop on the recorder. She slams it on the night table beside her along with the pen and notepad that were lying in her lap.

As soon as the pressure left her hands, Anne laid her head back against the hammock, looking up at the ceiling. She would have to listen to that faltering voice of hers on the tape. It would absolutely kill her to hear how shamed and pathetic she sounded all over again.

With any other story, Anne had to admit, it was different. Whenever she recorded the events of the day, her voice was emotionless, and she never faltered with any of her words. But with this story…

She lifted her hands and ran them through her long, straight hair. _"What am I going to do?"_ she asked herself.

"Hello there."

Anne snapped her head up towards the door and saw that Mr. Bucket was standing there with a large tray in his hands. Immediately, the smell of soup broth and fresh bread reached Anne's nose, and she gave in to the intoxicating smell of the food lying on the tray.

"Hungry?" Mr. Bucket laughed, walking towards her.

He must have seen the hungry look in her eyes, and Anne responded also with a laugh. "Yes, sorry, I didn't mean to be rude."

"Oh, not at all." He was right in front of her, looking about him. "Where should I put the tray for you, dear?" For a minute, he stared down at her lap, but then his gaze fell upon the night table.

As quick as a flash, Anne reached forward and snatched her belongings off the night table. "You can put it right there," she said, stuffing all three traces of her work underneath her legs.

Mr. Bucket still looked quite suspicious, but he still laid the tray on the table all the same. "You should eat it all. It will build you up in a minute."

She nodded. "Oh, you don't have to worry about any extras."

He laughed and smiled warmly down at her. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine; thank you. I really don't think it will have to be necessary for me to stay in tomorrow. I mean," she pointed down at her leg, "it's already turning to a fungus green; doesn't that mean it's almost healed?' She gave him a persuasive smile.

He shook his head, chuckling. "You really don't want to stay in bed tomorrow, do you?"

She sighed. "Not at all."

Again, he began chuckling that sly laugh of his. "Tell you what," Mr. Bucket said, walking closer to her, "how about I get Willy to check on your injury tomorrow morning and _he'll_ be the judge to whether or not you're safe to leave the room."

Anne exhaled sharply. "He'll _never_ let me; he was the one that said I should stay put for two days."

"But I have to agree with you—you're injury really is looking better." He stared down at it with bewildered eyes. "How did it heal so quickly?"

"I've been keeping ice on it every two hours or so."

Mr. Bucket looked at Anne with wide eyes. "Did you think of that yourself?"

She shook her head. "No, Willy did it for me."

As soon as she said it, Mr. Bucket's smile was much too warm and knowing for Anne's liking. He intertwined his hands, still looking down at her. "Willy is acting quite accommodating to our new guest."

Anne had to admit she was not surprised. Every member of Charlie's family obviously believed that Anne and Willy had some sort of secret admiration towards one another. First, Mrs. Bucket was trying to keep them alone together; second, Charlie asked Anne how she felt about Willy; third, Mr. Bucket was saying Willy had an entire different side ever since Anne had arrived.

She merely smiled and let her white teeth shine. "Isn't that what every host is supposed to do for their guest?"

Mr. Bucket shrugged his shoulders, a smirk on his face. "That may be so, but Willy has never had a guest with such beauty like you."

Anne's heart dropped.

"Oh, I'm just messing with you, dear," Mr. Bucket said, lightly touching her hand. "I'm not going to be like my wife who is convinced she's a matchmaker at heart."

Anne truly laughed at that, totally agreeing.

Mr. Bucket stood up straight and looked down at Anne once more. "Do you have everything you need, Anne? Is there anything else you would want me to get?"

She looked up into his warm, dark eyes. The corners were crinkling in response to the comforting smile on his face. As much as his smile made her feel happy, it also made a cold stone drop into the base of her stomach.

"No," she said quietly, "I won't be needing anything else."

Mr. Bucket nodded his head and walked to the door. Right before he stepped out of the house, Anne cried out, "Mr. Bucket?"

He looked at her.

"Thank you so much for the food. It really means the world to me."

He grinned widely. "I'd be willing to do anything for you, Anne. Just say the word." And with that, he left the tree house, Anne hearing his footsteps stroll down the stairs.

"I know you would," she whispered to herself. "I know you would."

_This chapter is not that exciting, and I know it. Next will be much better. There will be some tension between Willy and Anne, so prepare yourselves for that. Thanks for all of the reviews and for simply reading the story!_


	9. A New Injury

Hello everyone

_Hello everyone! Thank you so much for the nice reviews. I loved that you made your comments about the chocolate speech. That meant a lot to me. Enjoy this next chapter._

**A New Injury**

Anne had never felt so well-rested in her life. She woke up to the sound of a howler monkey calling through the tall canopy of her rainforest room. Her eyes got used to the bright surroundings, and she stretched out all her tight limbs.

She reached over to the night table where her phone was sitting. "10:30," she said to herself, putting her phone back down. _"Willy should be here soon."_

Suddenly, Anne heard a clinking noise in the kitchen. She snapped her head directly behind her to see if some kind of burglar had broken into her tree house. She looked through the holes of her hammock netting to see the back of the said person. As her head slightly moved to the right, she could see the back of whoever was in the kitchen: a maroon suit with a cane leaning against the side of the counter. It was Willy of course.

Anne smiled to herself as an idea popped in her head. She quietly lifted herself out of the hammock, making sure not to hurt her leg at all. Her feet lightly touched the wooden floorboards, and she made sure that Willy was still facing the sink. Stealthily, she walked across her bedroom, making her way towards the kitchen. As she got closer and closer, she realized that Willy was humming a tune to himself. She grinned again. Finally, she was on the tiles of the kitchen, and she made her way to Willy. He continued to wash the dishes in the sink. At last she was directly behind Willy, and he hadn't noticed a thing.

Anne took a deep breath, held out her arms, and cried out, "Tadah!"

Willy swung around, and the next thing Anne knew, everything was black.

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"Anne….? Anne…?"

Her vision was slightly foggy, and there was a blurry shape leaning over the semi-unconscious Anne. A flash of pain went through her head, and she quietly groaned. Immediately, she put her hand to the top of her scalp and felt the largest bump she had ever felt in her life.

"You're alive! Thank God!" Willy's cheerful voice rejoiced.

Anne groaned again. Her vision was less cloudy, and she could see Willy's dazzling teeth brightly smiling at her.

"You've been out for about five minutes. I guess I hit you kind of hard."

That was when Anne snapped out of it.

Her eyes flew open, and she glared up at Willy. "You hit me?"

Willy grimaced, quickly nodding his head. Anne clenched her teeth together. "But it was a total reflex!" Willy cried out. He was wringing a roller in his hands. "I didn't mean to--."

Anne pointed at the roller. "Is that what you hit me with?"

Willy's eyes flew to the roller and then back at Anne. He gulped slowly. "Yes…" he trailed off.

Anne rolled her eyes.

"But you don't have to worry, because I had just finished drying the knives." Willy began to chuckle to himself. "Imagine if you had surprised me when I was still drying that butcher knife." He continued to laugh but then suddenly stopped when he saw the look on Anne's face.

"Lucky me," she muttered.

Willy grimaced again. "Sorry?"

"You should be."

"Well, what were you doing, coming up behind me like that? You shouldn't surprise a person like that, especially when you don't know what they're holding in their hands."

"I wanted to show you that I'm healed!" Anne cried out, pointing down at her leg. "I wanted to change your mind about making me stay in for two days." She sighed. "I guess _that's_ not going to happen."

Willy's gaze fell upon her bruised leg. "It _is _looking a lot better."

Anne slowly smiled. "Isn't it?"

Willy nodded. "You've been listening to my advice, haven't you?"

She grinned. "Ice every two hours for half an hour."

Willy beamed. "Good girl."  
Anne hadn't noticed it, but the whole time they had been talking, Willy's fingers were lightly skimming over Anne's bruise. She hadn't felt it because it was so gentle, but now she noticed it, because it caused chills to rise up her arms.

Willy's dark eyes looked at her. "We should get you up, shouldn't we?"

Anne nodded, not able to say anything.

Willy took his hands of her leg and grabbed her one hand. "When I lift you up, I'll put my other arm around your back. Okay?"  
"Sure."

Willy used his surprising strength, and Anne shot up from the floor. Dark spots filled up her vision, but Willy put his arm around Anne's waist. "You okay?  
"Okay, we're going to walk back to the kitchen."

Taking baby steps, Willy began to lead Anne back towards the tiled floor. Warning signs were still going on inside Anne's eyes. The black spots were getting bigger, and her head was beginning to throb more powerfully. Willy was saying small comments, but she couldn't hear him. Suddenly, her legs gave out, and she began to sink to the floor.

Before her knees even touched the cold tiles, Willy caught her arms. In the sudden movement, she had linked her arms behind his neck. "Yikes!" Willy cried out. "Are you okay, Anne?"

"Hmmmm," she groaned.

Without any trouble, Willy scooped her into his arms. "I think your leg is okay, it's just the fact that I knocked you out."

Anne could hear the smile in his voice, and she quietly giggled.

"There's my girl," Willy said, bringing her farther into the kitchen. "I need you to stay with me now." Willy had placed her upon the counter, but his hands were still around her like he was holding a baby. "I think this is what you need."

Out of nowhere, a freezing bag of peas touched Anne's head. "Ah!" she cried out.

"Shhh! It's just a bag of peas; why are you freaking out about it?"

"It's freezing, and it stings against my big, red bump."

Willy chuckled to himself. "Well, it will make it better, so just stay still."

Anne groaned, and he continued to hold the bag up against her head. She stared up at him with a glare on her face. After a while, Willy finally looked down at her and saw that she was glaring daggers at him.

"What's the matter?" he said laughing.

"Well, _first,_ I thought you should know…I've never really been knocked out until I arrived to this factory of yours. And it's happened about two times."

Willy let out that booming laugh of his. "Well…I apologize for that. But you really could've avoided both of the situations."

Anne's mouth fell open. "How could I do that?!"  
Willy smirked and moved the bag a little bit. "You weren't really paying attention with the glass elevator incident."

Rolling her eyes, she slightly laughed. "You didn't warn me where the glass elevator was."  
He shook his head. "Still your fault."

She scoffed and shook her head grinning. "Fine…fine. That one is my fault. Now please explain to me how _you _knocking me out with a wooden roller is _my _fault. Please…I'd really like to know that one."

Willy was shaking with laughter, holding his free hand up to his mouth. "Let me…let me…" he said between his fits of chuckling.

"All right, I get it. You like making fun of me," Anne complained. "Now, tell me how it was my fault."

"Well," Willy started, "do you know that _all _human beings share two fears?"

Anne didn't know where he was getting at. "No…."

"Well we do. And do you know what those two fears are?"

Anne shook her head.

Willy sighed. "The first one is fear of falling. If one feels like they're about to trip or drop down from a higher surface, the heart rate goes up along with the adrenaline of the human being."

"Willy, what are you talking about? This isn't explaining how it's my fault."

Willy shushed her. "I'm getting to it.

"The second fear is fear of sudden or loud noises. If one hears an unexpected noise or sound, the heart rate goes up along with the adrenaline of a human being. So does the reflex," he added quickly.

Anne rolled her eyes. "So, you're saying that I should have known that every human being shares two fears and that it's my fault for not considering that your reflex would kick in when hearing me, and then you would proceed to hit me on the head with a wooden roller?"

Willy stared at her a second, deep in thought. "Hmmm…yes," he said abruptly. "Yes, you hit it right on the nail."

Anne gently hit him on the arm. "You are a jerk."

Willy sarcastically frowned. "I am not."

"Yes you are."

Willy shook his head. "How can you even call me a jerk when I have done _multiple _things for you?"

Anne scoffed. "Like what?"

Willy's eyes widened. "'Like what?' You _can't _be serious?"  
"I am!"

Willy closed his eyes, laughing. "I can not believe you. Would you like me to make a list?"  
Anne giggled. "Yes, I would."

Willy sighed and started counting off his fingers. "Well, firstly, I saved you from the rain." Chills grazed Anne's arm, but Willy didn't notice. "Secondly, I gave you a wonderful tour of my factory, which rarely happens. Thirdly, I gave you a nice place to stay. Fourthly, when you hit your head against the glass elevator, I gave you ice to put on your head. And lastly, look at me now! I'm taking care of you!"  
"After you knocked me out with a roller!"

Willy laughed again, still holding the ice against her head. "I guess I can see your point on that matter. But everything else was because of the good of my heart."

Anne nodded her head. "Uh huh. Sure."

Willy looked at her, a glare on his face. "I don't have to do this you know. I could leave whenever I would want to."

"You could, but you're much too nice to do that."

Willy beamed, nodding his head. "You've gotten that much right."

The two of them stopped speaking, and Willy continued to shift the position of the pea bag against her head every so often. Anne no longer felt pain, because the iciness of the peas had made her bump turn numb. The only warmth she felt was Willy's hand, holding the bag in place.

"Willy?" Anne finally asked.

"Hmmm?" His dark eyes found hers.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she had to swallow a rather large lump in her throat. "Ummm," she muttered, not looking directly at his face. "I have a question for you."

"Shoot."

Anne proceeded to stare out of the kitchen window, staring at two flowers intertwined together on the same branch. "Well, I was just wondering…just curious, you know? I was wondering--." _"Stop skipping words; you sound nervous." _She took a deep breath and cleared her throat again. "I was just wondering if you are a forgiving person."

Willy didn't say anything for a moment and just kept shifting the bag. For a minute, Anne thought he had not heard her. She opened her mouth to repeat the question, but Willy placed down the bag and stared Anne right in the face.

"What?" Anne said, totally shocked by this sudden movement.

Willy's face was inches from her, and Anne couldn't understand why. He wasn't angry, and he wasn't grave. If Anne had to guess what emotion was on his face, she would guess curiosity. He was so close that she could feel his breath upon her mouth.

For a second, she thought he was going to kiss her, but he slowly opened his mouth. "No," he whispered.

Anne stared at him, her eyes tall. "'No?'"

Willy shook his head. "No," he repeated.

"Oh."

Willy's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

_"Oh shoot." _"I was just curious," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "You seem to be the type of person that would forgive people easily."

Out of the corner of eyes, she saw that Willy was staring at the floor, obviously in thought. His forehead was wrinkled, and his jaw was shut tight. What made Anne the most nervous was that his look was very cold. A look that she had never seen in Willy before.

He finally spoke. "I forgive people, but it takes me a long time to."

"Really?"

Willy nodded, his face still heavy. "It takes years for me to forgive someone, maybe even never."

"'Never?'"

"Yes, never."

Anne waited to see if he was going to say anything more. From his expression, there was obviously someone in his life that he was referring to. The thought of Willy never forgiving someone made a slight gap in her heart widen.

Willy then said something so quietly that Anne couldn't even hear. She leaned towards him. "What did you say?"

"My father," he whispered, still staring at the tiled floor.

"Oh."

Willy looked up at her, but not really seeing her. "It took me about 28 years to finally forgive my father."

"Oh," Anne said. He nodded his head. "That's a long time."

"You bet it is."

She still waited, yet it seemed now that Willy didn't want to continue to conversation. Anne wanted to change the subject, knowing that Willy was probably too hurt to go on. However, she desired to know what was wrong with Willy's past. This could be the reason why he built the factory in the first place.

"So," Anne started. Willy still stared at the ground. "So," she said louder, "do you want to tell me the reason why you ignored your father for 28 years?"

Willy shook his head.

"Okay," Anne sighed, putting her hands together. "That's your decision."

Willy slowly looked up at her. "Do you just want to know because you're curious or because you honestly care about me?"

It was as if he knew. His eyes stared right through her, and she was afraid that there was some sign on her that said she was a journalist. However, when he had asked the question, she honestly desired to know more about Willy's past because she was concerned for him. She hadn't even thought about her story when she has asked him.

"I want to know because I care for you," she said quietly.

Willy's eyes finally lost that harsh look, and Anne felt her heart start beating again. He sighed and hoisted himself up on the counter to sit beside her. "I'm not going to go into all of the details."

Anne shook her head. "You don't have to."

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But he had.

It was as if he had never told anyone, and Anne was his safe refuge. He began the story from his childhood, telling of how his father never allowed him to do anything: he couldn't play with any of the children in his neighborhood, he couldn't do any extra activities in school, he couldn't play any games that involved a ball, and he couldn't eat any candy.

That was what had inspired Willy to start the factory.

The fact that he was forbidden to eat candy made it taste so much better. Whenever he had the chance, he bought a pound of candy from the shop down his street and ate it all on his front step before his father came home from work. The actuality that his father was a dentist made it much harder to keep his candy eating a secret. His father checked his teeth every other night to make sure they were perfect.

After the childhood scene, Willy went on to describe how he ran away from home. His father had encouraged him to leave, even though he was only a boy at the age of 11. He had nowhere to go, and he was afraid. He went back to his house after two days to see if he would be welcomed home, but his father had left. He had also left no trace of where he had gone to.

Willy then went on to describe how he had started a small chocolate shop near his hometown. He lived in a little apartment above the shop which made it much easier to start his business in the morning.

After that, Willy skipped over much of the details to how he got the factory and how he got his workers, but Anne knew most of those. He fast forwarded right to the part where Charlie had won the challenge, and he now had most of the ownership of the factory.

Charlie had encouraged him to find his father and try to forgive him. Willy had at first refused, but after a lot of encouraging from Charlie's side, he finally found his father's new home and went inside to talk to him.

Willy had not gone into full details of how he and his father had made up, but he said that he had apologized along with his father. His father still lived in his new home and wrote a letter to Willy now and then.

By the end of his story, Willy's head was in Anne's lap, and he was staring up at the ceiling.

"I still don't know what our relationship is. Yes, I forgave him and he forgave me, but I still feel a slight rift between us…like we're not truly father and son."

"Well, why don't you write that to him? I'm sure he's feeling the same thing."

Willy shook his head. "I don't have the courage to do that."  
"Well, get the courage to do that."

"It's not that simple, Anne. We haven't had any decent conversations since I was seven years old. You think that it's going to be easy for me to tell him he's never been a good father?"

Anne shrugged her shoulders. "He probably knows deep down that he was a terrible father."

Will sighed. "I'll think about it."

"Please do that."

Willy tilted his head so that he was looking up at her. She quietly giggled at his upside-down face.

"What are you laughing about?" he grinned, lifting his head out of her lap.

"You just looked funny, that's all," Anne said.

Willy was now sitting across at her with a curious smile on his face. Anne couldn't read it, but it seemed he was trying to see into her mind.

"What are you looking at?" Anne asked.

Willy didn't say anything for a minute and just continued to stare at her. Anne felt quiet uncomfortable, and she kept looking away from him, waiting for him to say something.

"Look at me."

He said it so quietly that it sounded as if someone had called it from very far away. She slowly lifted her head and met gazes with Willy.

He was staring at her in a way he had never looked at her before. Anne's insides became a live wire circuit. She wanted to take her eyes of his, but it seemed as if they were glued together in gaze. After a moment, she realized that Willy's perfect face was coming closer to hers. Again, she wanted to pull back, but the muscles in her neck would just now allow it. He was so close to her now that his smooth, porcelain face was merely three inches away. Her heart was beating so fast, she thought a heart attack was soon to come.

But then, Willy reached forward and placed his hands on both sides of her face. It was gentle though, as if he were holding a newborn child. Her eyes slightly flickered in surprise, but she kept them open to continue staring at him.

He looked at every inch of her face, scanning with his eyes. She felt violated, but in a way, kind of liked it. She liked that he was so curious about her. It made her feel special.

"There's so much pain in your eyes, Anne," Willy whispered. "You've either gone through a lot of pain, or you've seen a lot of pain. Which one is it?"

Anne's voice slightly shook. "Both," she breathed.

Willy nodded, as if he already knew the answer. The tips of his fingers lightly trailed over her eyelids. She immediately closed her eyes to allow him to do so.

"I don't want you to go through any more pain."

Anne sighed. "Neither do I."

Willy's fingers left her eyes, and she slowly opened them. He continued to roam her face with his hands, however.

"You put on such a strong façade like you're Superwoman. You walk around this factory like you know where everything is. You're smart, you're determined, you're independent." He took a deep breath. "You don't want anyone to know about you and why you're the way you are. You're scared to tell people about your past and why it takes you so long to finally trust people."

Anne's voice slightly faltered. "You're right," she said.

Willy nodded again. "I have been trying to look into that mind of yours since the day you got here, but it seems that you put up this barrier to people you don't know. I've seen you do it with not only me, but everyone here. You don't even give your full story to Mrs. Bucket, and you once said you trust her the most."

All Anne could do was nod her head.

Willy slid his hands to her hair. His fingers got entangled in her long tresses of dark hair, and he pushed them back to uncover her ears.

"I want you to hear this, Anne."

She looked up into his chocolate eyes.

He bent down to her right ear, and she could feel his breath against it. "You can trust me," he whispered. Immediately, chills rose up Anne's arms, and she felt that circuit inside of her again.

His face went back to its previous position, and he was still staring at her, his hands still pushing her hair back.

Very slowly, as if it were in slow motion, Willy's face came down upon hers. At first, all he did was trail his lips across her cheek. It wasn't in a gross way though. He seemed to be kissing the pain away. Then, his lips touched her nose, and then after, trailed up to kiss her eyelids. Anne sighed dreamlike.

Then, Willy paused for a second, his lips trailed down her nose to her lips.

For a second, Willy's lips rested against Anne's bottom lip, and they did nothing. They just breathed and rested their foreheads near each other. But then, Willy pressed his lips against hers.

It was as if she had been electrocuted. Every nerve in Anne's body caught flame, and she was feeling the heat from every part of her body. Willy merely pecked her, but then his mouth began to move against hers. She moved hers in harmony to his, and she could feel his fingers still holding her hair back.

The kiss was wonderful. Anne had not expected a kiss this good to happen, and they were merely seconds into it. Willy began to open Anne's lips more, wishing to kiss her more deeply. She was so willing to let him, but then, all of a sudden, Patrick's face popped into her mind. And it wasn't because she was romantically interested in him. It wasn't because she expected Patrick to be jealous. She was hurting Willy more than rewarding him.

Four seconds into the kiss, Anne shoved Willy off of her.

"What? What?" Willy asked breathlessly.

"No, I can't," Anne breathed. "This is not right."

She leaped off the counter, not thinking about her leg or head, and ran from the kitchen, into her bedroom, down the stairs, in her rainforest room, and out of the dormitory door.

As soon as the door closed, Anne put her back against it, looking up at the ceiling. _"What have I just done?"_

Patrick's face was still floating in her mind, and she tried to take it out. She didn't want to do this anymore. The thought of Willy finding out how she had betrayed her made her want to physically get sick. And he had said it took him years to forgive people…maybe even never. She couldn't even imagine that.

Sobs took over her. The tears surprised her immediately; she hadn't cried for years, besides the incident in the rain. She put her hands to her hair, which was still warm from Willy's touch. That made more sobs envelop her, and her body was shaking against the closed door. In emotional agony, she sank to the ground, her legs crouched together.

Anne thought about Willy still standing in the kitchen, completely bewildered of what had just happened. And all the things he had said were right. She couldn't let her guard down when writing this story. Something bad was going to happen if she allowed herself to trust Willy.


	10. Makeover Time

Makeover Time

**Makeover Time**

Anne was avoiding Willy at all costs. Once she discovered that he was looking for her (through Mr. and Mrs. Bucket), she soon went to a place where she was sure Willy would not be located in. It was like a game of hide and seek. And it lasted for about three days.

Throughout the entire three-day hunt, Anne went through the kiss she shared with Willy. It ran through her mind like a continued movie. She couldn't get it out of her head.

"It was wrong…it was wrong." Anne said this to herself about twenty times a day and it made her feel much better.

And she was right; it was wrong. The kiss was a total mistake on her part. She never should have let Willy kiss her. Her job was to discover his secrets and write a story about his most inner thoughts. It was totally wrong to get attached to someone that she was writing a story on.

But she had to admit it…it felt right. The four seconds of the kiss were absolutely amazing, and she hated to say it. Anne was not the type of girl who was interested in kissing men like Willy. She had to keep saying that to herself to make sure no second thoughts would go creeping back into her mind.

On the fourth day of total avoidance of Willy, Anne was walking along the bridge of the chocolate river on an early Sunday. She made sure to get up extra early, knowing that Willy probably walked by here a lot.

Anne had made sure to start her rough draft on Willy for Patrick. It was detailed, very harsh, and worst of all, crushing. Anne wrote the whole thing out on her notepad, completely heartbroken at how awful she had sounded. At the last sentence of the draft, a tear had fallen on Willy's name.

Anne sighed and rubbed her hand against the railing of the bridge. She hated to not talk to Willy, but she knew that it was for the best. The less she saw of him, the better it would be in the end.

"Hello, Anne."

"Goodness!"

Anne jumped in her spot and spun around to see Willy walking onto the bridge, a timid smile on his face.

"Oh!" Anne said weakly. "Hello, Willy."

"Hello," he repeated.

He walked up closer to her, tapping his pane against the wooden planks of his bridge. Looking her up and down, Willy smiled. "You look lovely today, Anne."

Anne grabbed the hem of her cherry skirt. "You think so?" She couldn't help but feel a smile spread across her face.

Willy followed suit. "Yes."

The two of them stared at each other for a second, and then Anne heard an alarm go off in her head. She took her eyes off of Willy's chocolate, brown ones and cleared her throat. "Thank you," she muttered.

Willy stood in his spot for a second, debating whether or not to stay. He took a step to the left and then suddenly walked towards her, joining her at the railing.

"Do you mind if I look at the river with you?"

He had come to her left and was now leaning over the barrier to look out at the raging waterfall.

Anne sighed. "Not at all." She turned around and joined him in looking at his creations.

For a second, they didn't say anything. Many unsaid phrases were being passed between them, but neither looked at each other. Each one wanted to cry something out, scream unanswered questions, but neither had the courage to do so. It was like a couple in middle school. Both of them had never had to deal with this, and it felt so foreign to them.

Finally, Willy cleared his throat and inclined his head towards her the tiniest bit. "Have you not spoken these last three days?"

Anne slightly giggled, taken aback by his words. "I've talked to myself quite a bit…if you must know." She looked at him from the corner of her eye and saw that he was chuckling, his porcelain smile reaching the edges of his face.

"I've been doing that too."

"Have you?" Anne asked.

Willy hesitated. "Yes."

Silence.

Anne quickly turned to him as he did the same. "Willy?"

"Anne?"

They laughed.

"You go first," Anne said.

"No…you."

"I insist…you go, Willy."

Willy smiled. "Ladies first." He pointed at her.

She sighed and again turned to the waterfall. It was much easier to keep her eyes off Willy this way. "I'm sorry that I've been avoiding you these past couple days. That really wasn't my intention." Willy didn't say anything. "The truth is," Anne continued, "I'm not the best person in these types of situations. I'm actually terrible," she laughed.

Willy nodded, pressing his forehead against his clasped hands. "I'm worse."

Anne turned to him. "You'd be surprised."

Willy kept his head to his hands for a second and then lifted up to look at her with investigative eyes. "I may not be good in these types of situations, Anne, but I _just_ don't understand why you left that day." Anne's heart dropped. "It's been on my mind ever since you left the room."

She found she couldn't look directly at him. "Sorry," she whispered.

"I don't want a sorry," Willy said firmly, but gently. "I just want to know why."

Anne shook her head and looked at the frothing waves of chocolate. "I wish I could explain why." And it was true.

Willy sighed dramatically. "Don't tell me. You're a complicated girl who has a lot of trust issues, and it's not easy to move on to someone new."

She looked up at him. "I guess you could say that."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. I was merely kidding, Anne."

Anne shrugged her shoulders. "Well, what if I'm not?"

Willy stared at her, bewildered. "Are you telling me you're exactly like that kind of girl?"

"Not _exactly._ But I am a complicated girl."

Willy smiled warmly. "I've guessed that much."

Out of nowhere, he picked up Anne's hand and pressed it to his lips. She lost all her breath and could only stare at him with wide eyes. Again, he pressed her smooth skin against his lips and waited for her reaction. But she didn't have one. She didn't even have the words to say anything.

"You're my complicated wildflower."

Every bad feeling left Anne, and she felt her insides quiver with delight. Willy's smooth face descended upon her and kissed the top of her head. "Wildflower scent and attitude," he breathed against her hair.

She wanted this and desired it, and she didn't understand why. It felt so good the way he treated her. It made her feel more beautiful than she had ever felt. But she knew it was wrong, and she had to find a way to make it stop.

Anne put her hand to Willy's chest and gently pushed against it. He pulled back from her with an addled look on his face.

"Don't do that—don't say that."

"Why?"

"Because…" She smoothed out her hair and looked up at him with a defiant look. "We can't do that."

"Explain to me why."

"Because—."

"'Because? Because?' Is that all you can say?" Willy cried, throwing his hands up in the air. "You spend more time out in the real world than I ever have, and all you can say is 'because?!'"

Anne clenched her fists tight. "Hey! Don't be mean! I was just about to explain before you so _rudely _interrupted."

Willy was continuing to throw his hands in the air, tapping his cane against the railing of the bridge. "Can you blame me?! I've been waiting three days to get a clear answer out of you, and all you can say is 'because.'"

"I haven't been thinking of what to say to you. Punish me for thinking of that kiss we shared in the kitchen. I can't get my mind off it."

"But clearly not in a good way! You're trying to think of reasons why it was bad."

"And it _was_ bad!" Anne cried in a higher pitch. "It was a mistake, and you must know that, Willy!"

The two of them were pointing at each other, pointing at themselves, completely red-faced. It had started as a nice conversation to a screaming match.

Willy was beside himself. "I completely humiliated myself. I practiced what to say to you; I thought of ways to cheer you up, I had kissing lessons with the Oompa Loompas."

"Oh, and that's my fault?! Why must you always--?" Anne suddenly stopped, and her voice grew short. "Wait…what did you just say?"

Willy's face was now a new shade of red. He was no longer mad, but clearly deflated. "Yes, I had kissing lessons with the Oompa Loompas, okay?"

A smile slowly started to cross Anne's face. "You…what?"

"Kissing lessons!" Willy cried out. "With the Oompa Loompas!"

Anne stared at him for a second in complete disbelief. When she saw that he was very serious, she began to crack up. It erupted from her like water breaking from a cracked dam. She had never laughed this hard in her life. She was bent over her knees, trying to find air in between her fits of laughter.

Willy shuffled his feet and took looks at her every so often. "Yeah, yeah—I get it. Okay? It's funny that I kissed an Oompa Loompa."

She looked up at him, tears coming down her face. She still didn't have the breath to say anything to him, so she continued to laugh.

A smile cracked over Willy's face. "I've never seen you like this before, Anne."

She shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"It's not that funny."

Anne nodded, and she started to get more air to breathe.

Willy stepped closer to her. "Are you okay? Did you need mouth-to-mouth?"

Anne stopped laughing at once and stood up straight. She looked at him to glare, but then very suddenly, he was kissing her.

Willy grabbed her face and was now kissing her very roughly. It wasn't unenjoyable, but Anne knew that she couldn't let it happen.

She pushed hard against him, and the minute she did, he went back towards her, all ready to kiss her again.

Anne punched him on the shoulder. "Don't!" she yelled.

Willy wiped his lips, looking at her like she was crazed. "Why not?"

"Because!" She stamped her foot like a child. "I told you that it was a mistake. We just can't do that anymore, Willy!"

He shook his head, staring at her with wide eyes. "I don't get you, Anne. One minute you're all over me, the next you're pushing me off you…"

Anne scoffed. "'All over you!' Excuse me, but I have never been all over you."

"You liked the kiss at first a couple days ago," Willy said, pointing at her.

She frowned. "You can't know that for sure."

Willy nodded. "Oh, yes I can. I _do _know that for sure."

They stared at each other for a second, both breathing very heavily. Anne felt like she was going insane. Every part of her wanted to kill Willy, wanted to hurt him, but at the same time, she wanted to hold him and kiss him all over again.

Willy took the silence as an okay. He approached her again, grabbing for her face.

"No!" Anne slapped away his hand and then slapped him clean across the face. It wasn't a very hard slap, because Willy's head barely moved an inch. She huffed angrily and turned on the spot. "I'm leaving!"

Anne walked over the bridge, onto the path, and started walking towards the glass elevator.

"Anne!" Willy cried.

She looked behind her and saw that Willy was quickly following after.

She exhaled sharply and went back to stomping across the edible room.

"Anne!"

"Leave me alone!"

"I won't do that." He voice was closer.

"Please!" Anne cried out desperately. "It'll make things easier if we are only friends."

Willy suddenly grabbed her shoulder and swung her around. His perfectly cupped hair was now slightly ruffled and straightening out to a normal hair style. Anne couldn't help but notice that he looked much better without it being faultless. His face now had some color in it, and it looked nice that he was not so pale.

Anne felt a small grin come across her face, but she made sure to hide it immediately.

Willy continued to stare at her with illimitable eyes. "You want to be friends?" he asked breathlessly.

Anne slowly nodded. "Yes," she whispered. "Isn't that good enough for you?"

Willy directly shook his head, but Anne rolled her eyes. "Willy, let me ask you something?" He cocked his hip out to get in a more comfortable position. Anne walked towards him. "If any other woman came in here besides myself, if she was pretty, if she acted much differently than me, would you be pursuing her as well?"

Willy's brow furrowed. "I'm not sure I understand," he murmured.

Anne cleared her throat. "You claim that you want me because I'm unique and different. Well, I don't think that's all that true. _I _think that the only reason why you're trying to kiss me is because you haven't seen a woman in many years, and the minute one comes in, you suddenly want her?" She frowned at him. "That doesn't sound very right."

Willy smiled, shaking his head. "I know what you're trying to get at, but you're wrong. I like you, Anne. And not because you're a very attractive woman or because I haven't seen or been with a woman my age in very long." He took a deep breath. "It's because you teach me things. And I teach you things. I know that you might not get it right now, but I think we're perfect for each other. I think--."

Anne put her finger up to Willy's lips and shushed him. He stared at her. "Don't," Anne whispered. "Don't say any of that." She slowly took her finger down.

"Why not?"

"Because," Anne sighed. She looked up at him. "We're going to be only friends, Willy. That's the final decision."

"'Final?'"

"Final."

The two of them gazed at each other for a moment, trying to see what the other one was thinking. Willy looked perplexed and preoccupied, like he was looking at a math problem that he couldn't solve. Anne looked guilty yet steadfast. She was set on them being friends. It was the only way that she could continue her story.

Willy saw the determined look in Anne's eyes and saw there was no way to persuade her. He sighed and looked down at his feet. "I guess that I'm fine with us being friends."

Anne smiled brightly. "Willy--…"

He held up his finger to cut her off. "But I must warn you that there are still many mixed feelings inside me that I can't quite explain. I can't promise that I will be as _friendly_ as you want me to be." He finally looked up at her. "But I will try."

"That's all I want," Anne said.

They both hesitated and then hugged a very friendly hug.

"See, this isn't so bad," Anne stated against his chest.

She felt his shoulders shrug. "Sure, I guess."

Anne laughed and pulled away from him. "Now that we're friends, I want to do something with you that any two best girl friends would do."

Willy sulked down at her. "What are you talking about?"

She beamed. "We're going to have a makeover party!"

Willy's face totally dropped and he was shaking his head back and forth. "No," he said slowly. "There is no way. No way, Anne."

Anne was doing the opposite, smiling as bright as she could. "Yes, we are! Trust me, you'll like it."

"Anne, what are you going to do to me?"

She grabbed onto his hand. "I'm not going to tell you, but you will like it."

And with that, the two of them went into the glass elevator, heading back to Anne's room. Willy was totally oblivious to what he would soon look like, but Anne could already see the new Willy in her mind. The thought of it made a small giggle come to her lips.

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"Willy! Come out of there right now!"

"No!"

"Willy!"

The two of them were in Anne's tree house. Anne was still holding the hair gel and the scissors in her right hand and the hat of Willy's in her other hand. She was standing in the kitchen, staring at the closed door of her bathroom. Willy was inside, looking at his new hair, probably in shock.

"You cut so much off!" his muffled cry responded back to her.

She laughed. "I only took off two inches."

"Two inches is a lot. Now it's so short."

"Willy, that's pretty long for a man your age. I also gelled it all up so it looks nice."

He didn't say anything but she could hear his moaning and groaning. She rolled her eyes. "Just come out of there, Willy," she ordered. "Honestly, you're acting like a child."

Very abruptly, the door swung open and Willy was standing in the door frame.

Anne had to admit it; she was good. Willy's hair was absolutely fantastic. It no longer had that doll-like look. It looked like a slight George Clooney hairstyle, and it worked fabulously on Willy. It came up right above his ears, and Anne made sure to gel it up so that it looked like a much cleaner cut. However, she had ruffled it up so that it had more of a rugged look. This accentuated Willy's high cheek bones and his strong jaw line. She brought her hands together in excited bliss.

"Stop looking at me like that," Willy pouted.

She walked towards him, touching up his hair. "You look amazing, Willy."

"No I do not."

"Yes you do! Would I lie to you?"

"Maybe…"

"No," she answered for him. "I would never lie to you. You look fabulous."

Anne took her hand down and sighed in relief as she stared at the new and improved Willy. Her eyes slowly scanned him over and then fell on his pale complexion. "Hmm, Willy you need more sunlight."

He blinked. "'Sunlight?'"

"Yes, sunlight!" She lightly touched his cheek. "Look how pale you are." The minute she touched him, heat jumped from her finger and connected the two of them. Willy slowly lifted his head to gaze at her. "Um," she said, taking her hand down. "What I'm saying is you need to go outside of this factory once in a while."

Willy slightly laughed. "That's not going to happen."

Anne frowned. "Why not?"

"Anne, the only times I've ever left my factory was to get more workers and to see my father. Do you really think I'm willing to go outside and take a stroll through the small town of Leamington?"

"…yes…."

"No."

Anne grimaced. "Don't be so stubborn."

Willy threw up his hands. "Is there anything else you'd like to change about me?"

Her eyes fell on his suit. "Clothing would be a nice change."

"I was just kidding," Willy cried out.

Anne looked up at him. "Willy, this is a makeover party. What did you expect?"

Willy shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I was thinking maybe a personality makeover or something like that…"

"Why would you need a personality makeover?"

"No, I thought it was for you."

Anne's mouth fell open, and Willy let out a booming laugh. "There!" he cried, pointing at her. "How do you like a taste of your own medicine?"

Her mouth remained gaping, and she watched him keel over his knees, shaking with fits of laughter. "That was just mean!" she stated, crossing her arms.

Willy stood up straight and the smile left his face immediately. "I'm sorry," he murmured, coming towards her. "I didn't mean it, Anne. I was just kidding."

"Hmpf."

Willy grabbed her shoulders and stared down at her. "Are you upset with me?"

She managed to nod her head.

Willy gave a half grin. "You're mad at me?"

She nodded again.

Willy laughed. "Here then."

He wrapped his arms around her, closing every gap between them. Anne felt so comfortable in his grasp. The warmth, the scent, and the feeing of Willy against her made her sigh in comfort against his chest. He was really a great hugger.

This hug was too comforting; it was too good. She felt too comfortable.

She gently and casually pushed against his chest. He looked quite hurt when she did it, but then she put on a play smile. "You don't get a good hug like that when I'm still mad at you."

Willy looked a little better at her last statement, and his grin popped up again. "What can I do to make it up to you?" he asked.

"Go into town with me," she answered quickly.

Willy sighed at her bright smile, but a small grin played at his lips. "I can't do that, Anne. I really can't."

"Please!" Anne cried out, grabbing onto his arm. "Willy! It'll be fun. And you can even put on a disguise if you're so scared about the people out there. We can get something to eat, go shopping, just stroll around…"

Willy continued to shake his head. "I don't know."

"Willy," Anne said quietly. He looked at her in interest. "It's time for you to get out there. It's good for you to get some fresh air."

"That's why I go on Fudge Mountain all the time."

"It's not the same."

Willy stood there in thought, Anne still clinging to him like a child. He was biting his lip in confusion, clearly trying to think of reason why he shouldn't go.

"I'll be fun," Anne reminded him.

He finally stopped biting his lip and looked at her. "Fine," he said in a defeated voice. "I guess that I'll go."

Anne took a breath to cry out, but Willy suddenly cut her off.

"But that does not mean…that I will have a good time."

"But you will," Anne stated eagerly.

Willy groaned. "We'll see."

Anne smiled. "Yes…we _will _see."

_Sorry this chapter was kind of boring. The next one will be good, I promise! Thanks again for all the reviews._


	11. Inspired

Hello

_Hello! Sorry I haven't updated in forever; I was on vacation for two weeks, and I just started school. Things have been really hectic lately: college applications, homework, and all that senior junk. Haha, thanks for all the reviews though. I really love them all!_

It had taken a couple hours to get Willy out of the factory. After protesting, complaining, and reminiscing of the unknown world he was forced to go out into, Willy had to be reassured by Anne of all the wonderful things that were waiting for him out there.

"There's fresh air, wonderful, _healthy _food, great people, hilltops, blue sky…"

"And with that," Willy interrupted, "there's pollution, _gross_, healthy food, awful people, trash, rainstorms…"

"Willy!"

"What?"

"You're not giving this any open thoughts. You're being stubborn and really ignorant."

Willy looked at her with wide eyes. "Did you just call me ignorant?"

"Yes."

He shook his head.

That conversation had gone on for a while, but finally, in present time, the two of them were walking away from the gates of the epic chocolate factory.

"See, isn't it a nice day?"

Willy looked up at the sky with a glum look on his face. "Looks like rain."

Anne followed suit and also looked up at the sky. There were some clouds that seemed as if they were holding a lot of precipitation, but beyond that, the beautiful sapphire blue was peeking behind all of the gray.

"Even if it _does _rain, rain is a beautiful thing. It's fun to play games in, fun to dance in…a lot of things!"

Willy looked down at her like she was crazy. "Rain messes everything up. It makes your clothes stick to you, it ruins books that you leave outside, and it messes up your hair…"

Anne giggled. "You sound like a girl."

Willy glared at her.

She nudged his arm. "Loosen up. Today is going to be fun. Look at all the people."

They were about halfway down the street, and they were slightly surrounded by the citizens of Leamington. Willy bowed his head down, but it was no use; everyone was staring at him with eager eyes. It was clear that this was the man who owned the factory that looked over the entire town. Anne felt slightly excited that she was standing next to this important man. She smiled at all the stares.

"Don't look at them, Anne. That'll bring the attention to us," Willy muttered, still looking down at the sidewalk.

"Willy, they already know it's you. I _told _you not to wear that suit."

"Hey, I didn't wear my hat for you. You should appreciate that."

Anne laughed. "Just look up, Willy. You're the one making it more obvious."

Willy reluctantly raised his head and flinched when he saw all the people staring. "Whoa, they _do _know that it's me," he whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

"So, be proud and show off the new Willy. That's probably why they're staring."

Anne looked at him and saw that he did look _much_ better. Although the suit was taking away so much from him, Anne had to admit that his new hair and the flush in his cheeks brought out a much more attractive Willy. She liked this new look he had.

Willy smiled and actually waved his hand to a few people who were gawking at him. They nervously raised their hands and waved back in disbelief. Anne laughed each time.

Willy suddenly looked more confident and turned to Anne with bright eyes. "What's the plan for today, missy? What are we thinking?" he asked.

Anne laughed. "Well, I was thinking we could, _firstly, _get you some new clothes ASAP…"

Willy frowned. "Is it really that bad?"

Anne gave him an up-down look. She didn't have to say anything.

Willy sighed. "Fine. What else?"

"We could grab some dinner, walk around the town, and do whatever else you'd like to do."

Willy shrugged his shoulders. "Sounds sufficient." He then looked back at her. "Do you think we could stop by the place where the Buckets' cottage used to be?"

"Oh," Anne said, taken aback. "Sure. Why?"

"I just think it's really cool to see. You'll like it; I promise."

Anne smiled. "Sounds good to me."

Willy beamed back.

Suddenly, Anne saw a small, but promising clothing story on the corner of the next block. It was called _Bien Mode_, and she could see the fashionable items hanging on racks before the front window display.

"Ooo, Willy! Look over there!" She grabbed his arm and pointed eagerly towards the shop.

He looked over, his eyes alight with curiosity, but once he saw what Anne was pointing at, his shoulders sagged. "Really, Anne?"

She nodded. "Yep! There's NO way you're getting out of this one."

And with that, Anne pulled Willy like she was an excited two-year-old pulling her parent into a Chucky Cheese's.

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"How much?!"

Anne and Willy were standing at the counter of _Bien Mode, _many bags of clothing in each of their grasps. Willy was holding his wallet in his hand, staring at the cost of their shopping spree.

"800 pounds," repeated the clerk in a drawn voice. She looked down at her fingernails in disinterest.

Willy still stood there, staring at the green, digital numbers.

Anne hit him on the arm. "What's the problem? There are people behind us."

"I'm in a state of shock at the moment."

"Well, get out of it. People are waiting, Willy."

He didn't move.

Anne gave a quick smile to the people over her shoulder and then turned back to Willy, leaning towards him. "You should see how much money _I _spend when I go on shopping sprees," Anne hissed. "This is nothing."

Willy scoffed. "Yes, but you're a woman. This is different."

Someone gave an impatient cough from behind them.

Anne ignored it and drew up close to Willy. "All of this is worth it. Trust me."

He still looked hesitant.

"If you want me to put the striped sweater back…"

Willy's eyes slowly went down to the bag in his right hand. Anne had noticed that he had particularly liked the blue and black striped sweater, but it was the most expensive. She smiled at the apprehended look on Willy's face as she reached for the bag.

"I'll just put it back very quickly," Anne whispered.

Just as her hand reached the strap of the bag, Willy pulled it away from her and pressed it against his chest. "No need," he said shortly.

Anne beamed.

Willy took out the money from his wallet, sighing as he did so. The clerk merely grabbed the bills from him and exchanged it for his change.

"Have a nice day," she said in an ironic tone.

"You too," Willy said dimly.

The two of them walked out of the shop, to the other customers' relief, and stepped out onto the shadowed sidewalk of Leamington.

"Well, there you have it!" Anne cried out, facing the outside world. "Your first shopping spree. What did you think about it?"

She turned around to see a very disgruntled Willy. "I think that was ludicrous. I have never spent that much money in one standing in my entire life."

Anne exhaled sharply and walked towards him. "Oh, come on. Don't tell me you didn't enjoy that."

Willy rolled his eyes.

"Look at you, Willy! Look how good you look." He dropped his chin to look at his new outfit. "You can _not _tell me that you don't look good."

And how right she was.

Willy was sporting his outfit like nobody's business. Not only did his hair match the outfit perfectly, his dark eyes were standing out against the tan and red striped polo that he was wearing against his tall frame. Anne had made sure to get the perfect pair of jeans for him. They were just right for his incredibly lanky legs, and the size was just right for hugging the bottom of his hips. Willy had declined to the ripped-up versions of many jeans, but Anne had convinced him to buy at least a couple pairs. The ones he was wearing right at that moment were ripped up and suited the ruggish look he had allover. Anne had to ignore the fact that Willy had insisted on wearing the same shoes he had worn for most of his life. Since the jeans covered them up, she had agreed to it. It had been a reluctant agreement, yet she did it just the same.

"I guess I look pretty good," Willy admitted.

"You look great!" Anne exclaimed, touching his shoulder. "You really should thank me for this you know." She gave him a teasing smile from under her lashes.

Willy looked down at her, suddenly distracted by her tone. "What are you implying, miss Anne?"

She smiled. "I don't know," she said with a shrug. The two of them started to walk down the street, clinging to the bags in their hands. "Maybe you could…" Anne trailed off.

"Whaaaaat?" Willy asked slowly. "That rise in your voice sounds dangerous, Anne."

She giggled. "Nothing too dangerous."

"Just tell me."

Anne sighed. "Fine." She looked to the side to give him a keen look. "Maybe you could name a chocolate after me or something. Or a new candy that's exactly like me. Just slip my name into it. No need to explain or anything."

Willy laughed. "I see what you're getting at. You're practically asking me to make a new candy that's based off you."

"Something like that."

Willy shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Only you would suggest something like that. An idea that ridiculous could only come from your mouth."  
Anne's mouth gaped open. "Excuse me! I don't think it's that ridiculous of an idea. I _have_ sacrificed a whole day to go shopping with a hopeless case."

"'Hopeless?' Wow, I didn't think you thought so highly of me."

Anne covered her mouth which was teeming over with laughter. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it quite so harshly."

The two of them shared a moment of laughter, still passing passerby after passerby. After a minute or two, the giggles started to subside, and Anne started to be more observant of the citizens.

Willy was totally oblivious to the fact that practically every woman on the street was checking him out. If it was more than one woman, especially with two, the one would grab her friend and hiss something in her ear, and then both of them would check Willy out from head to toe. He just continued to walk along in silence, a small smile playing at the corner of his lips. Anne stared at him incredulously.

He seemed to have noticed that she wasn't saying anything, and he looked down at her curiously. "Is something the matter?"

Right at that moment, a group of very attractive women walked by and instantly stopped laughing the second they saw Willy. Anne even heard one of them whisper, "Where is _he _from and why have I never met him?"

Anne couldn't explain why, but she felt a bit…preoccupied by this new change. It couldn't be that she was _jealous_; no, that couldn't be it. It could be the fact that every time Willy was looked so favorably upon, the woman would look at Anne and almost looked satisfied at how ordinary she must look. She realized that this unsettled her exceedingly.

"No. Nothing's the matter," she said shortly. She then turned her head to the front and proceeded to ignore everything around her.

Willy wasn't fooled. "Are you sure?"

Anne nodded.

She could see that he looked worried by her new change in attitude. She didn't have the courage to explain what she was feeling though. It would be too long of an explanation anyway.

"Anne…?" Willy pressed.

She looked ahead and saw a small café on the next corner. To skip the whole explanation of the many thoughts in her head, she pointed ahead and suggested, "Shall we stop there to eat dinner?"

Willy looked down at her suspiciously, but nodded his head at the same time. "That sounds reasonable to me."

She sighed, planted a small smile on her face, and walked ahead with the new Willy, many eyes following the pair of them into the restaurant.

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Once they had been seated, by the over-graciously staff hostess, Anne noticed that the waitress had the same avid look in her eyes as she took their order; actually, it was more like taking _Willy's _order rather than her own.

"What would you like to eat, sir?" She smiled down at him, her one hand on her hip.

Anne looked away, rolling her eyes, upset by the fact that this tall, blonde, attractive woman was asking Willy practically for his number instead of his meal.

Willy didn't notice and grinned back up at her. "I'll get the turkey sandwich on the flat bread panini."

"Great!" she exclaimed. After she wrote down his order, she smiled again at him, actually playing with the end of her long ponytail.

"Um," Anne said loudly. The girl reluctantly looked her way. "I'll have the seven-cheese pasta, please."

She scribbled it down quickly then turned back to Willy. "Drinks?"

Willy looked Anne's way. "Up to you."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Cokes?" she implied.

However, the waitress was still staring at Willy, waiting for his answer. When he realized that she was apprehending his decision, he said, "Oh," and gave a small laugh. "Um, two Cokes for us."

"Sounds great. I'll be right back with your drinks, sir."

And with that, she gave him one last playful smile and walked away with a new spring in her step. Anne watched her walk away with a disgusted look on her face.

"Seven-cheese pasta, huh? Sounds delicious," Willy said.

Anne looked over his shoulder and noticed that her waitress and the staff hostess were whispering excitedly to each other, still glancing over at Willy with a brightness in their eyes.

"Disgusting," Anne whispered to herself.

"What?" Willy asked, his brow furrowing.

Anne looked up at him in surprise. "What?"

"What did you just say?"

"Oh!" Anne exclaimed, a small giggle escaping her lips. "Sorry. I was just kind of…distracted." She made sure to make the right word choice.

Willy still stared at her, a look of concern in his eyes. "Is something the matter?"

"No!" Anne said at once. "Of course not! Why on Earth would you think such a thing?"

"You're acting very strangely. This morning you were absolutely _charged_ at the idea of giving me a makeover. And you were excited about our whole plan today," Willy pressed on.

Anne sighed. "I know, I know."

"So, what is it then? It seems this new attitude came out of nowhere. You've been frowning since we've gotten in here."

Anne looked up into his warm eyes.

"Here are the drinks!"

All too soon, the waitress was back, placing the large cokes onto the table. Believe it or not, she slid the drinks to Willy, like he was somehow a human magnet. Anne held her raised hand up in disbelief.

An understanding twinkling reached Willy's eyes, and he looked down at the drinks apprehensively. "Thank you," he said quietly, making sure not to smile too warmly up at the waitress.

It seemed she didn't notice. "You're welcome," she crooned, leaning towards him. "Your meal will be out in a couple minutes."

Willy nodded and looked at Anne with fearful eyes. She smirked at him and gave him a knowing look.

The waitress didn't leave. "Just in case you didn't know, my name is Evelyn." She touched her nametag as she did so, looking a little sheepish as Willy stared up at her. "I just don't want you to have to call 'waitress' across the room in case you need something."

"Yes, that's very helpful," Anne added on.

Willy glared back at her.

Now that Willy realized what his effect was doing on people, Anne felt much better when she saw that he did not look as excited as he should when very attractive women were addressing him. In fact, he looked completely horrified that this pretty girl was giving him notice.

"And what would your name be?" the waitress said shyly. "I know all the people that come in here, but I don't think I've ever seen your face before."

Before Willy could even open his mouth, Anne blurted out, "Willy."

The waitress paid Anne attention for the first time. She looked down at her curiously. "'Willy?'" she repeated.

From behind Evelyn, Willy was shaking his head furiously, swishing his hand across his throat sharply from side to side. Anne merely looked his way and then back at Evelyn.

"Yes, Willy Wonka. You know…the guy who owns the chocolate factory."

Evelyn's eyes widened, and her mouth gaped open. She stared at Anne for a moment, in complete disbelief. "Are you…serious?!" She turned her head to Willy, looking absolutely beside herself.

Willy smiled grimly. "I didn't want too much attention for it," he said quietly, glancing at the other restaurant-goers.

Evelyn ignored him. "I have been _dying _to know what you looked like." She took a deep breath. "Wow," she said, shaking her head. "No disappointments here."

Anne stifled a laugh.

"Thank you…?" Willy muttered.

Evelyn gave a girly giggle and looked towards the kitchen. Anne followed her glance and saw that the staff hostess was staring enviously at their table. Evelyn merely smiled and gave a little wave.

"Well, I better check on your food. I'll be right back with your meal, Mr. Wonka."

And she left, shuffling quickly towards the staff hostess.

Anne looked at Willy, who was avoiding her glance, playing with the place mat before him. "Well," Anne started. Willy reluctantly raised his eyes. "Can't say _that_ was not amusing." And she began to laugh.

Willy sighed and put down his place mat. "Stop that. Don't you start laughing at me."

"I can't help it," she managed to get out. "You should've seen the look on your face when you realized what was going on." She covered her mouth with her hand, the laughing muffled against her skin.

"All right, all right. I get it," Willy said wearily. She continued to laugh. "Well, I'm glad that this is amusing for you."

"You're right," she agreed.

Willy shook his head, still in complete disbelief of what just happened. "I have to admit…I'm shocked."

Anne's laughing subsided a little, and she found it much easier to breathe. Her chest ached a bit from her giggling, but she put her hand to her heart in order to talk more easily.

"Can you really be _that _shocked?" she finally asked.

Willy didn't say anything, but his look was an answer enough.

"Welllllll, Willy…" Anne trailed, reaching for her coke, "I think you don't give yourself enough credit." She took a sip out of her straw, eyeing Willy with playful eyes.

Willy smirked as he grabbed his coke as well. "What are you getting at?"

Anne shrugged her shoulders, still sucking on her drink. It felt good to feel the chill of the liquid go down her aching throat.

"No, come on," Willy pressed, leaning towards her. "Now I want to know."

Anne rolled her eyes, but let her lips leave the straw. "You really don't know how--." It was difficult to find a word for it. Handsome was too much, charming seemed too little, but Anne was having a hard time describing the appeal Willy left on women.

The look Evelyn had on her face when she saw Willy smile left a word in Anne's mind.

"Dazzling!" she suddenly blurted out, pointing at Willy.

The smile left his face and he quickly leaned away from her, looking surprised. "'Dazzling?'" he repeated.

Anne nodded, proud that she had come up with it so quickly. "Yes, that's the perfect way to describe how you are now. You're dazzling."

Willy still stared at her. "How am I dazzling?" A small smile popped up on his face.

"That's simple," Anne said, twirling her straw around the rim of her drink. "Your smile for one is exquisite, the new clothing that I bought for you brings out very good tones for your skin, and the hair just gives a whole new meaning to the word…"

"So, that's it," Willy cut her off, his tone suddenly disgruntled. "I'm dazzling because of this new makeover you gave me." Anne was disappointed to see that his eyes were cold when he looked at her. She felt a wave of panic rush over her.

"I didn't mean it like that, Willy, really."

"It doesn't really matter," he said shortly, taking another sip of his drink.

But Anne wouldn't give up that easy. She wanted to let Willy know the truth of his "dazzling" side.

"You really want to know what dazzles people the most, Willy? Well here you go: everything about your personality is optimistic, you smile at people as if you've known them for all your life, you accept people no matter how they look or dress, you listen to people, you want to make people laugh, you care what people have to say, you do everything you can to make people happy, and…and…"

Anne was breathing heavily by the end of her speech and suddenly felt very embarrassed that she had just said all that. She could barely meet Willy's eyes, but when she did for a split second, he was looking at her, his eyes more alight than she had ever seen them.

"And…?" he urged.

"And…and…," she said breathlessly. There was so much more…so much more that she could come up with. However, the embarrassment that she already felt was weighing on her greatly, and the intense look in Willy's eyes made her regret saying what she had already admitted.

"And you own a chocolate factory. Come on, what do you expect?"

She had finished the statement as a joke, but she could clearly see the disappointment in Willy's eyes. No matter, he merely smiled and chuckled lightly at her joke.

"I guess that does make an effect on women," he said quietly, looking at her shyly.

"I guess so." She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

Willy was looking at her with skeptical eyes, almost as if he was reading her mind. Anne felt self-conscious and looked away at some of the other tables. She wanted to avoid his glance at all cost.

"Anne?"

She immediately turned her head to him as if she had been waiting for it.

On Willy's face, she could see so many questions. There were so many unanswered facts about her, which were almost screaming, written all over his aggravated face. It almost made Anne wish that she could be much easier to read just from that look on Willy's face. She knew it was a bad thing to think about, but it made her feel special that he looked that way at her.

"Never mind," he finally said.

Just then, the food came. Evelyn jabbered away and away, talking about every nonimporant thing going on in her life.

As she did, Anne stared at Willy's profile the whole time. There was a word for what Willy made her feel; she couldn't think of it though. When she watched him take in every word of this stranger's story, she wanted to do something. She wanted to be like him. Seeing Willy act this way with their unknown waitress made her feel…inspired.


	12. The Meadow

The Meadow

The Meadow

The two of them walked out of the restaurant, their tummies full and their spirits high. Evelyn had left a small sheet of paper with her number on it along with the check. Willy scooted Anne out of the restaurant as quickly as he could, because she began cracking up when she saw the look on his face.

"Okay, that's enough," Willy said annoyed.

Anne was still laughing, holding onto her chest for support. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry." And then she went into another fit.

Willy rolled his eyes, but a smile crossed his lips. "You've been laughing for five straight minutes."

"I know," she giggled.

They were walking away from the café, the street much less crowded. It appeared that everyone had gone home for dinner or to other small restaurants to eat with friends and family. Willy and Anne were two of the only people walking down Leamington. It also could've been that distant thunder was making threats to the walking citizens. Anne looked up at the looming clouds over the hills.

"Are you done yet?"

Anne hadn't even realized that she was laughing still. When she did, a new stream of laughter took over her.

"Oh boy," Willy said grimly, and he stopped at the curb.

However, Anne was so preoccupied by her laughing, so taken over by her fits, she didn't even realize that Willy had stopped before crossing the street. She kept walking right over the curb and right into the street.

"Anne…ANNE!"

It happened all too quickly.

First, the laughing died altogether, along with her heart. To the left, a set of high beams were blinding her, and the sound of screeching tires hit her eardrums. Anne slowly turned her head, not fully taking in the scene. She couldn't move, yet she knew that if she didn't, the car would take over her in a matter of seconds. She heard muffled cries, but all she could truly hear was the screeching tires trying to grab onto the last of the pavement that rested before Anne. Through the headlights, she could see the woman driver yelling in her car, her eyes wide with fear.

It was as if she had been knocked over by a bag of bricks. The force of Willy hitting her knocked all the breath out of her, and they both flew to the right, their bodies soaring through the night air. The car squealed past them, just barely skimming against Anne's high heel. It seemed as if they were flying in slow motion: Anne could feel Willy's arms holding her tight, she could feel the wind rustling her hair as they flew across the narrow street, she could see the driver close her eyes as she zoomed past them, and she could feel her heart beat start all over again.

Suddenly, they pounded against the hard cement of the sidewalk, Anne's arm pressed tightly against it. It didn't seem possible, but more air escaped her body, and she had to gasp to give herself some oxygen. Willy grunted as he fell on top of her, and his arms bounded against the concrete as well.

It took a second for them to get back to reality. Anne heard the screaming first.

"Oh my goodness! Are you okay?!"

It was a woman's voice, and she had obviously just seen Willy's heroic rescue. Anne then heard the sound of a car door slamming and figured it was the woman who had nearly run her over. The sound of high heels clicking against the pavement was heard by the two of them.

But all Anne saw, all Anne felt was Willy.

He was staring down at her, his arms still wrapped around her entire top half. Beads of sweat were gathering at the very tip of his hairline, and his eyes were wide in shock. His mouth was gaped open, and Anne could feel his hot breath against her face. Willy was so close in fact that she could see every individual eyelash. The two of them didn't move. She laid flat against the sidewalk, and Willy was breathing against her, looking as if he had never seen her before.

People were gathered around them now, but Anne couldn't hear them. She found refuge in looking at Willy's warm, chocolate eyes. She felt relieved that he looked so concerned for her. Even at this moment, it made her feel special.

"Are you okay?" Willy finally asked. His voice was no more than a whisper.

Anne took a few more deep breaths before she found her voice. "Yes," she said in a hoarse voice. It hurt her throat to speak.

That's when Anne could hear the other people. The woman in the car was hovering over them, her knees shaking. "Are you all right? I'm so sorry! I didn't even see you!" She was rather plump, had red hair, and looked genuinely apologetic. Anne felt a surge of guilt for the woman; she had given her such a fright.

"I'm fine," Anne said in the loudest voice she could muster. Willy was still on top of her, almost like he was refusing to let go.

The woman shook with relief. "I thought I was going to hit you, but then your husband came out of nowhere…"

Willy finally came out of his reverie once he heard that word. He blinked a couple times, gazed down at Anne curiously, and then unwound his hands out from under her. The crowd stared at them in interest.

"Are you okay, sir?" the woman asked Willy.

He awkwardly rolled off Anne, exhaling deeply. "My arms hurt," he said quietly.

He had, in fact, taken all of the weight as Anne and he flew across the pavement. Anne thought that her hand hurt, but when she thought of how hard she had pressed herself up against Willy's arms, the imagined pain seemed unbearable.

"Do you think you need an ambulance?" a man close to Willy asked. He kneeled beside him, placing his briefcase on the ground.

Willy looked at Anne and then back at the man. "I don't think so." He seemed expressionless, completely lifeless. Anne figured it must have been the shock. She still lay on the ground, too afraid to get up and feel the pain of the fall.

"I'm a doctor…Dr. Kraemer. If you'll let me, I'll gently test your arms to see if there are any broken bones."

Willy looked reluctant, but all the same, he held his arms up stiffly.

"Do you think you could get up?" the doctor asked.

Without any answer, Willy stood up, using the brick wall next to him for support. Dr. Kraemer walked over to Anne and lifted her up without any problem. "Are you okay, miss?" His voice was quite gentle, and Anne felt soothed by it.

"Yes," she whispered. "Just some scratches."

He sat her down on a nearby bench, and she watched motionless as the doctor checked over Willy's injuries. The whole time he lifted Willy's arms up or twisted them in weird directions, Willy stared at Anne, no emotion in his eyes.

"It appears you're all right. There will probably be some heavy contusions though," the doctor finally said.

Willy nodded at him.

Anne looked over at the woman. "Miss, is your car fine?"

"Oh yes!" she gasped. "Not that that's important! I was so afraid I killed you."

Anne gently smiled. "It was my fault; I should have looked before I crossed."

The crowd was thinning now; it was clear that everyone had turned out okay. Anne felt a little sickened that they would have stayed if an ambulance had pulled up.

Dr. Kraemer shook hands with Willy and Anne. "Glad everything turned out all right," he said warmly.

They quietly thanked him, and he picked up his briefcase and scurried across the sidewalk. He was probably late to the hospital.

The red haired lady came forward as well. "My name's Kirsten. I am still ever so sorry for what happened."

"Honestly, it wasn't your fault," Anne assured her. Willy said nothing.

"All the same, I'm thankful your husband was there in time." She gave a boisterous laugh. "I wish my husband loved me that much. He would have been happy to see me under those wheels."

Anne laughed and looked shyly up at Willy. She was relieved to see that the emotionless expression had left his face. He gave Kirsten a light smile.

"Well, goodbye, you two. It was nice…meeting you." And she erupted into that laugh again, her hand going to her chest.

Willy and Anne laughed along with her and watched her retreating back as she walked back to her parked car.

The two of them laughed a while longer, even as Kirsten put her car into drive and drove away. The passing citizens were now uninterested. The last of the flock had finally left, and Willy and Anne were just two average people on the sidewalk. It seemed as if nothing had happened.

But to the two of them, everything had changed.

Willy looked down at Anne, his eyes clouded with an unknown emotion. "You're okay?" he asked quietly.

Anne's heart fluttered. "Yes," she answered breathlessly.

"You don't sound like it."

She put her hand to her chest. "I don't know what's happening." And it was true. The minute Willy had saved her, a new feeling had come over her entire being. She felt drawn to him though, as if he were a human magnet. It scared her that she wanted to touch him so badly.

Willy gave a small laugh and slid his hands into his pockets. This disappointed Anne. "I'm glad you're fine."

It seemed as if he wanted to end the conversation at this, but Anne refused to let it finish. She still looked up at him with wide eyes. "You saved my life," she stated dumbly.

His brown eyes took in her entire face. "Yes."

Her mouth gaped open, searching for words. "How did you do it?"

Willy looked skeptical and surprised that she was asking these questions. He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know," he muttered. "It was just a reflex?"

"A reflex?"

"Yes."

Anne inquired the twitch of his lips as he stared at her. "Your…reflex told you to save a woman that you've only known for two weeks…?" She wanted answers from him, and she wanted them now. She couldn't explain why it was important to her, but it seemed like it should matter.

Willy's gaze was so intense, so determined that she felt herself shy away from him as he stared down at her. "Anne," he whispered, "you know that you're _so_ much more than that."

It only took a second, only a fraction of a second maybe, but Anne didn't feel shy anymore; she didn't feel scared of Willy's gaze. She wanted to hold his face in her hands. She wanted to touch every part of him.

Anne practically jumped at Willy, securing her arms tightly around his neck. It wasn't how she normally kissed, not the slow, normal human way. She kissed him savagely. She slammed her lips against his and waited for him to respond.

It didn't take long.

His arms wound around her waist, and his lips moved rapidly against hers. She could feel the tip of his tongue tracing the inside of her bottom lip. She groaned inwardly and tightened her grip on him. His warm hands grazed up and down her spine, leaving tingles all down her lower back.

Anne didn't really know why she was kissing him. There wasn't any real specific reason as to why she was behaving this way. But to be completely honest, she didn't care in the slightest. And since he didn't care, it seemed totally okay.

All thoughts of her story flew from her mind. It didn't matter in the slightest to her. Patrick, the betrayal, the sure-to-be-fired status rang in her mind, yet she didn't care. All she wanted to feel Willy holding her like this for as long as he possibly could.

Kissing Willy wasn't like anything she had ever felt before. It seemed so natural. He moved his lips against hers as if they were meant to be there. He held onto her as if he had been doing this his whole life. It left Anne skeptical, because she knew Willy was one of the most inexperienced people on the planet.

Everything inside of her was going haywire. Willy's hands left hot trails down her back, his soft lips made her heart melt, and the way he held onto her face got her emotional reflexes doing back flips.

She didn't know how long they were kissing for, how long they had been standing like that…until…

"Excuse me?"

They instantly stopped kissing, and Anne pulled back from him with a slight gasp. Willy was looking at her wide-eyed, both of them refusing to be the first to look at who was addressing them. Anne almost wanted to laugh when she saw the redness spread across Willy's cheeks. Almost was the key word, because she knew her cheeks would be reddening as well. It also didn't help that Willy had hoisted her up into his arms, and they were still pressed against each other.

"Were you the two in the accident?" the voice repeated. It sounded a bit more impatient this time.

Anne finally snapped her head directly to their right and was mortified to see a police officer standing in front of them, looking fairly irritated. He was short, had very fair-colored hair, and blue eyes. He stood in front of them with a slight hunch, almost like he had to go to the bathroom. Anne let out a low sigh.

"Yes," Willy answered. With a groan, he let Anne down, unnecessarily letting his finger trail along her collarbone. She felt electric currents pulse through her veins.

The man looked much more comfortable now that they were facing him and Anne was on the ground. Her eyes lingered to his shiny tag and saw that his name was Officer Reilly.

"Are the two of you all right?" he asked in his unusually high voice. "We got a telephone call that there was an incident with a car."

Willy's charm began to take over, and Anne was forced to say nothing. "Sorry, officer. Yes, there was an incident, but it was taken care of. No one was hurt, and no damage was done."

The officer seemed skeptical, gazing at Willy through narrowed eyes. "You look a little beat up…" His eyes fell on Willy's and Anne's grazed arms.

Willy merely smiled. "You want to waste an ambulance to cover up my scrapes, Officer Reilly?"

Anne stifled a giggle.

The officer frowned and let out a sigh. "Well, good. I'm glad that no one was hurt and no damage was done."

"So are we," Anne finally said.

Officer Reilly looked at her and gave her a gruff smile. "Sorry I had to interrupt you and your husband, ma'am.

Anne had to look down, the red severely taking over her cheeks.

"We're not married," Willy laughed. Anne looked up at him. He winked at her very quickly so the officer couldn't see. "I had just proposed to her, and that's the scene you had walked upon."

Anne's mouth gaped open.

"Oh!" the officer cried. "Then I _really_ didn't mean to interrupt!"

Willy laughed again. "It's no big deal, officer." He beamed down at Anne, his eyes twinkling. "She said yes either way." He bent down and kissed her on the cheek. Anne's heart began thumping irregularly.

"Glad to hear it," the officer said.

All of a sudden, his walkie talkie went off, saying a street name and important sounding numbers. Officer Reilly twisted the tip of his walkie to shut off the sound. "Well," he said, looking up at the two of them, "that's me. I got to go off."

"Good luck!" Anne said quietly as he walked away from them.

"Thanks!" he called over his shoulder. "Oh and…congratulations on your engagement!"

"Thank you!" Willy cried back.

Anne just laughed.

And Officer Reilly was gone, leaving the two of them alone again.

"Did you really have to go that far with that lie?" Anne asked harshly, smiling up at Willy.

He shrugged his shoulders, looking smug. "I don't know," he said slowly. "I thought it was pretty believable."

Without saying anything, Willy reached out his arms to her. Anne stared into his twinkling eyes, wishing that she could make her eyes look like that. She walked towards him and fit herself into the hollow of his arms. The warmth radiating from his body caused her to get shivers down her spine…and it had nothing to do with the cool wind blowing through the town. She laid her head against his chest, hearing the subtle, yet strong beat of his heart.

"What does this mean?" Willy asked after a moment.

Anne felt her heart skip a beat. She couldn't avoid the fact that this was the biggest mistake she could get herself into. Willy was her story, a story that would most likely hurt him when he would find out about it. Anne didn't want to imagine the look on his face when he'd find that article about him. His face would be full of sadness, surprise, and disappointment. The twinkle from his eyes would be gone; the smile that made her heart beat quickly would disappear; his trust in her where he convinced himself that she was a good person would vanish forever.

However, Anne couldn't deny the fact that Willy made her feel complete. It had only been a couple of weeks, and already, Anne saw a new change in her: one that she liked. She came to the house, completely selfish and not willing to open her eyes to anything. She looked at Willy with pity, almost like _he _was the child, and _she _was the adult. But the whole time it had been the other way around. Willy helped her to look at things with new eyes. Appreciation seemed to be his favorite word, and Anne started to grasp on to that concept. He confided in her, allowing her to put her walls down around him. She didn't have to tell him things about her; he already knew. And when he had kissed her, Anne had felt an electric current flow through every part of her body. She didn't want to be with him, but in a way, she had to be.

"Anne?" Willy repeated gently. She still had not given him an answer. "What does this mean?"

Patrick, the story, her losing her job all rushed through her mind at once. She had to take a breath to sturdy herself.

"Are you okay?" Willy asked. As a reflex, his arms tightened around her.

"Yes," she said at once, letting out a laugh. "I just forgot to breathe for a moment."

Willy snickered, letting out a sigh. Anne forgot to breathe once more when Willy pressed his lips against her hair and whispered, "I know what that feels like sometimes."

They stood there for another moment, Anne waiting for Willy to ask again. It didn't take long. Only a couple people had walked by, staring curiously at them.

"What does this mean, Anne?" He asked it a bit more firmly, not impatiently, but just wanting to know what she would say.

Patrick, the story, being fired…

She sighed against his chest, shaking her head. "I don't know," she answered honestly.

Anne felt the disappointment weigh on Willy. His shoulders slumped, and his arms slightly unwound their way off Anne. His breathing got a bit shorter. Before he could completely separate himself from Anne, she faced him full on and put her hands on his chest. He looked down at her in curiosity, and she gazed straight into his eyes.

"I don't know what this means, but I know at this moment, it feels right," she said.

Willy stared at her for a second, smiled his sideways grin, and then bent down to kiss her once more right on the lips.

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"Where are we going?" Anne complained, her arm about to fall off.

Willy was pulling her by her right arm, practically running to whatever destination he wanted to reach. People were looking at them like they were insane. Anne smiled apologetically at them.

"I already told you," Willy said. "We're going to the Buckets' cottage."

"But there's no cottage there! What's the point?"

Willy sighed angrily. "I told you you would like it. Can't you just trust me?"

They crossed the street, leaving the last of the shops behind and walked towards a very large hill that bordered the small town.

"No!" Anne cried.

Willy laughed. "You are the most stubborn person that I know, Anne."

She gasped. "That's not true!"

"Oh, please. Spare me."

She huffed angrily and continued to be pulled along in angry silence.

Willy was now chugging her up the hill, which happened to be a very large hike. Lucky for them, a breeze was cooling them off, brought on by the storm that was soon to happen. Anne looked up at the sky in anxiety.

"Willy, should we be walking this far when it looks like it's going to rain?"

Willy looked over his shoulder at her with a satisfied smile. "I thought you said the rain was good," he said keenly.

Anne glared at him. "Don't give me that."

"What? That's what you said!"

Anne looked away from him. "I only said that so you would stop being such a baby about the whole thing."

"Hmpf." And then Willy turned back.

"Willlllyyyy…" Anne whined.

"Oh, hush! We're almost at the top anyway."

Anne looked ahead and saw that it was true. The tip of the hill was only a couple feet away. Adrenaline kicked in, and she started to take larger steps. Willy must have felt the sudden effort from her, because he turned around in surprise.

"Finally excited?"

Anne ignored him and continued to take giant steps, huffing for air.

Willy let go of her hand and jumped the last couple strides and reached the top. He opened his arms up to the sight before him, and Anne stared at his back. "Look at this, Anne? Isn't it beautiful?!"

Anne groaned and heaved herself up the last couple steps. She stood beside Willy and slowly lifted her head to look at the scene before her.

It was breathtaking: a vast meadow lay before the two of them, filled with flower after flower. Every couple inches, a four foot weed would stand up, shaking against the howling wind. It spread across the land, touching the base of a wood and the fence of a house in the distance. It went out as far as Anne could see. The horizon looked glowering compared to the bright layout of this meadow. The clouds cast a shadow against the golden haze that reflected off the wheat. Only a couple more running steps and Anne and Willy would be grazing through the unbelievable blue, pink, and yellow flowers that were sitting against the vivid green of the grass. Anne stared at all of it with wide, open eyes taking in every scent, every sight, and every sound.

"So," Willy whispered, "what do you think?"

Anne didn't say anything but continued to stare at the meadow.

Willy laughed. "And there's the Buckets' cottage…waaaaay down there." He pointed towards the woods.

Anne turned her head slightly to the right and could make out the layout of the cottage against the side of the hill. She could see how the family could spot the factory from their distance; the hill wasn't blocking their view of what was once Charlie's dream.

"Are you glad I brought you here?" Willy asked quietly.

With breathtaking surprise, a thunder clap exploded from the clouds above. Willy jumped, but Anne stayed in her spot, turned towards Willy now. It only took a second: the rain poured on them, soaking every inch of their body. Anne had never felt rain fall so hard. The drops fell on her smiling face, her nice outfit, and roughly inched their way through her soft tendrils. She could feel her eye makeup sliding down her face. She merely wiped it away and lifted her face up to the heavens.

Willy grabbed her hand and was off. They were running through the meadow as Anne had imagined. The weeds whipped against her arms, and her shoes were full of small plants and water. It didn't matter though. She was laughing as hard as her body would permit her. Willy caught on with her. They made sure not to step on the flowers. They passed by the two of them as little blurs of colors. The rain still dumped on them, and the lighting and thunder gave them little warnings to run inside. However, the two of them ignored it and continued to laugh and skip through the meadow like children.

Finally, Willy stopped, breathing heavily. Anne stared up at him as he laughed up at the sky. His hair was now flattened against his scalp, but the way he shook it against the dampening water made Anne feel hot against the pouring rain. Raindrop after raindrop slid down from his hair, to his forehead, across his eyelashes, down his cheeks, and finally slid down his lips to his chin. He had his sleeves rolled up tight against his biceps, and Anne stared hungrily at them. He finally looked down at her, the smile leaving his face.

"What? What's up?"

His eyes were electrifying against the dark sky. They stood out against all other things.

"Kiss me," Anne whispered.

"What?" Willy shouted right as a thunder clap shook the meadow.

"Kiss me!" she cried, throwing out her hands.

Willy grinned, but suddenly got very serious as he stared at her for a second. Anne could feel the hungry stare in his eyes as well. He took two, slow steps towards her. It had the right effect: he was pressed right against her, their bodies barely touching. He looked down at her, three heads taller. Anne could feel his heavy breathing against her, and chills rose up her arms. She didn't want to look up, knowing that if she did, _she _would be the one kissing. There was so much tension between them, so much wanting, yet Willy didn't make a move yet.

Finally, Anne felt his finger graze across her collarbone. The skin of where he touched was left hot and tingly. Anne felt her knees shake, and she had to take a deep breath to stay in her spot. All she could see was Willy's torso before her eyes, but just the feel of his touch made her tremble.

Once he reached the end of her collarbone, his finger traced the outside of her neckline, up her jaw line, and up to her right ear. He softly brushed the hair back from her face. They were both breathing heavily now.

"Look at me," Willy breathed.

Anne immediately obeyed and looked up at his face.

He was stone serious, yet Anne could read every emotion in his eyes. All that mattered was that he wanted her…badly. Slowly and cautiously, Willy bent towards her. Anne thought he was about to kiss her, but he passed her lips and went to her neck. The second his lips pressed against her skin and his head buried into the hollow of her neck, she let out a gasp. Her arms grabbed him, and she pressed all of herself against him.

At that, the two of them couldn't take it anymore.

Willy left her neck and pushed hard against her lips. _"Finally_," Anne thought to herself. Willy smiled and hoisted her up so that she could wrap her legs around his waist. The two of them kissed as passionately as they could, moving their lips against each others in perfect harmony.

_Hey guys! I really hope you liked this chapter. I know that the whole car incident may have been unnecessary, but I thought it was a good way of showing how much Willy really does care for Anne. I'll update as soon as possible!_


	13. In a Dream State

_I am so so so so so so sorry that it took me so long to update. I don't have any excuses, seriously I don't. I hope that you can forgive me and keep reading of course! ___

In a Dream State

For the next couple days, Anne seemed to be walking through a dream. Everything about her and Willy was going absolutely perfectly: their walks they had through the factory every night, the dinners with the Buckets and how the two of them couldn't take their eyes off one another, Willy having breakfast in the jungle room with Anne every morning, and of course, the kissing was just as good as it had always been.

There didn't seem to be a moment when Anne was sick of kissing Willy. The way he seemed so intent, so determined to put every emotion he was feeling into their kisses made each one feel different and unique to her. She never got bored.

It had been five days since their incident in the meadow, and Willy and Anne were sitting in the meadow of the main, edible room. They had just finished eating dinner and decided to enjoy the view.

Willy had laid out a specific blanket, peppermints and candy canes knitted into the fabric. Anne's soft fingers ran against the red and white patterns. She heard a chuckle and snapped out of her reverie to see that Willy was snickering at her.

"What?" she asked with a glare.

"The look you get on your face when you're thinking," he laughed. "It's cute."

She rolled her eyes and instead decided to play with the fringes of her skirt. "There's nothing cute about me thinking." Even _she _could hear the regret in her tone.

Willy stopped laughing at once. Anne saw that he had scooted closer to her. She refused to meet his gaze, afraid that he could read her emotions easier that she had thought.

"Why? What's the matter? Is it bad?" he asked quietly.

Out of reflex, his hand rested against hers.

Anne looked up at him, staring into the face of the most heartfelt guy she knew. Everything about him was sincere: his eyes, his smile, the look of worry playing at his lips. Even his body language showed that he really cared what was on her mind.

Her mouth twitched the tiniest bit, and she caressed the worry line on his forehead. "Nothing for you to worry about. This is my own, personal dilemma."

Willy smiled, but it was a feeble attempt to make her feel better. "You know what always helps stress…?" He held up his finger in that Dr. Chocolate Man way.

She rolled her eyes. "What…?"

"Oh, come on! You know!" he cried out, leaning towards her.

She just continued to stare him down with her heavy glare.

"Don't give me that grumpy look. You know that chocolate makes everything feel better."

Anne wanted to disagree, wanted to tell him that this is the one thing that could never make her feel better, but she knew he wouldn't understand. Sure, Willy had changed significantly ever since Anne had arrived, but there was still a part of him that was naive and didn't understand what the real world was like at times. But she liked that innocent side of him; that's what had brought her so close to him. He didn't let any corruption take over his life.

So, she merely nodded and agreed to eating some chocolate.

However, not everything could be fun and games.

The five days since the meadow, Anne had gotten 48 missed calls, 34 texts, and 17 voice mails from Patrick. She refused to listen to the voice mails, knowing that if she did, she would be tempted to talk to him. This was the last thing she wanted to do. She wanted to get away from Patrick. She was wishing that he would realize that something important had happened, something that was more important than her job. Just the thought of trying to explain that to Patrick made her snicker. He would soil himself if she told him that line. She tried to imagine it:

_"I'm sorry, Patrick. I have to refuse to do the story. You see, I've grown an interest in Willy. And not the interest you're thinking of. I think I'm in a relationship with him. You have to understand: he's kind, loyal, compassionate…"_

Oh, who was she kidding? Patrick would listen to the first two sentences of her story, and then interrupt her to tell her he was firing her.

But then, at the same time, Anne didn't have the heart to quit her job. Yes, she was done with the story, and yes, she refused to answer Patrick's calls, but a part of her loved writing for the paper. All her life, she had wanted to be a journalist, and now, she finally had her dream job. The business part of Anne screamed at her at night, asking her how she could choose a silly romance over her dream job. And sometimes…she agreed.

But then her romantic side would take over, reminding her of the way Willy made her feel. He was quirky, strange, and socially awkward, but he knew _exactly_ how to make Anne happy. This was the first time in her entire life that a guy had actually been interested in her for more than her good looks. Willy liked her sarcastic attitude, her bad coordination, and her ability to read people. He liked the way she was a challenge, but at the same time, still able to win her over. And in the end, Willy _had _won her over.

Anne shuddered to think what her parents would say if she brought a guy like Willy with her to a family dinner. She could just see their faces. Mom would try to be nice, asking Willy about his passions and dreams, whereas Dad would still in a solemn silence, reading every emotion going on between Anne and Willy, wondering why in the hell she chose a guy like him.

Even Anne's friends would be appalled. Willy's jokes, comments, brutal honestly would be too much for all of them.

Or would it?

That's what she had thought when she first met Willy, but now she wasn't too sure. Willy could absolutely win over her parents. All he would have to do is switch on his personable charm, and Anne's mother would give him a big hug before their farewell, and Anne's dad would invite Willy over before the next football game. Anne's friends could laugh at Willy's quirkiness and unique personality. And as far as looks went, Willy was oddly and surprisingly very good-looking now. Anne could visualize her best friend Julia giving him the full check out. Anne had to admit it, she was a great stylist.

All of this was flying through her head at night, when she wasn't with Willy. In a way, Willy was her blocker of these thoughts. She used him to get them out of her mind. Was that why she loved spending so much time with him?

Nah, who was she kidding? That was only a small reason of why she loved hanging out with him. He made her feel beautiful, for one thing, he cared about what she always said, he laughed at her jokes, he made sure she was safe at all times, and he encouraged her to follow her own dreams. He was her inspiration.

Too much!

After the two of them grabbed some fudge down in the marshmallow room, Willy suggested going on their nighttime walk around the licorice canal. Anne agreed half heartedly.

The sound of Anne's high heels reverberated off the curved walls of the canal. Whenever Willy spoke, his quiet voice became a boom throughout the room and echoed against their ear drums. It wasn't as calming as their other walks, but Anne had no complaints. She was too stuck in her thoughts to have noticed anything too significant.

"You want my other piece?" Willy asked, sticking his almond fudge before her face.

She stopped sucking on her piece, looked at Willy's, and then politely shook her head. To avoid saying anything, she began sucking on her fudge again.

Willy breathed though his teeth.

_"Uh oh_," Anne thought to herself.

"What's the matter with you, Anne?"

She didn't say anything.

"Are you going to answer me?" _"…answer me…answer me…?"_ bounced off the walls.

She shrugged her shoulders. The straps of her dress were slightly big and were beginning to slide down her arms. She paid no attention to them though. Her heart was now racing that Willy had finally confronted her about her quiet attitude.

"Everything has been going great these past couple days, I thought, and now you look as if you regret it."

Her heart immediately jumped and she snapped her head up to look at him. "I don't regret anything; I swear."

His chocolate eyes looked unconvinced. "How do I know? You're always changing your mind every other day. How do I know you haven't changed it again?"

She looked back down at her fudge, still clicking her way down the walking path. "I know that I change my mind a lot," she said quietly. The room still managed to pick up her statement and it hit the two of them twice more, each a stab to the heart. "I know that I must really frustrate you when I do that--."

"Got that right," Willy interrupted.

She did all she could to avoid rolling her eyes. "I just have a lot on my mind right now. Not all of it has to do with you, but I guess you could say you're a part of it."

"A part that I should be worried about?" All humor had left his voice.

Anne looked up at him with a smirk. "No, not a part that you should be worried about."

Relief struck every feature on Willy's face. He slid his hands into his jeans pockets and looked ahead again. "I'm not going to lie and tell you that I wasn't nervous about you."

Anne laughed weakly. "I can tell."

They were silent for another minute. It wasn't as awkward a silence as it had been before, but the two of them could still feel the tension on the air.

"Well, if it has nothing to do with me, then what does it have to do with?"

Silence.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?"

All Anne did was widen her eyes.

"Fine," Willy said, putting up his hands, "you don't have to tell me. Really. In a way, I kind of don't want to know."

She looked up at him, leaning towards him. "I thought you were _always_ wondering what was going on in my head," she teased.

They automatically slowed down, their bodies almost touching. The tension in the air was finally cut, and all Anne wanted to do was to have Willy's hands on her.

He grinned the half smile that made her heart melt. Willy knew how to tempt her. "I am not _always _wondering what's going on in your head. If I did that, I would see psychotic images full of pain and despair."

Anne full on stopped in her place, facing Willy with her mouth hanging open. "You did _not_ just say that."

Willy carelessly leaned against the wall of the canal. "Yes, I think I did." His quirky smile still stood out against all of his other handsome features.

With a quick toss of her hand, the fudge Anne had been sucking on flew over her shoulder and into the canal. She came towards Willy as fast as she could, her fists flying.

"You jerk!"

Willy caught her waist at once, and she playfully hit her fists against his chest. Of course, this did nothing to Willy. He merely threw his head back with a laugh and continued to hold onto Anne with all his might. She kicked and pulled against him, but it was no use. He had a tight hold on her. Their quiet laughs and mindless struggles echoed throughout the room, hitting every corner and hidden space.

"I am not psychotic!" Anne yelled to his face.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really!"

She gave him an extra hard punch for that.

"Come here," Willy muttered, pulling her to him.

"Oh, no!" Anne cried out when she realized what he was doing. "There is no way!"

Willy chuckled under his breath and pushed against Anne's back to press her against him. He bent his head towards her, his mouth inches from her neck.

She gasped breathlessly, suddenly taken with this new attitude in him.

When Willy was in this situation, he was a totally different person.

He reached his hand down, and Anne suddenly felt the warmth of his skin against her upper thigh. She looked up at him surprise. He merely grinned back and looked back down at her neck.

Without warning, he hitched her leg up and held it against the side of his body. Anne's right hand flew up to his shoulder for support. Her dress slightly slid down her thigh. He smiled dangerously at her.

"Mr. Wonka," Anne breathed, "I _do_ believe you're taking advantage of me."

"Is that so terrible?"

Her breath came out ragged. "Well," she said, her voice hoarse, "we _are _alone together in a room where no one is able to come outside without a boat at their door."

"And…?" Willy pressed. He bent his head even closer, his breath hitting the side of Anne's neck.

She was going to say something else intelligent, but it had flown out of her head the minute Willy's lips pressed against her skin. With a quiet sigh, she put her other hand on his shoulder and grasped on tightly.

As mentioned before, Willy's kisses never got boring.

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Anne woke up the next morning, completely ready for a new day with Willy. Being with him was relaxing, knowing that she wouldn't have to imagine her life in the real world. She had thought about going home much, but she couldn't really imagine how she was going to do that. How was she supposed to just get up and leave when Willy was sure to stay here? What would her story be? But at the same time, what was the purpose of her still staying here? She was completely fine now. She was back to normal from the incident weeks ago, her leg was no longer injured, and she had ample opportunity to go find a job of her own.

_"Too much to think about,"_ she groaned inwardly as she rose from her hammock.

Out of habit, she picked up her phone and looked at the small screen. 2 more missed calls from Patrick. He was getting less and less determined. In one way, that made her ecstatic, knowing that she wouldn't have to explain the situation with Willy. On the other hand, that disappointed her, because she wanted to keep her job.

She ran her fingers through her hair restlessly and made her way to the kitchen.

"Morning!"

Anne screamed at the top of her lungs and clutched at her heart.

Willy was sitting at the table, his hands on the surface, looking very pleased and content that he had alarmed her so. Anne's heart started again.

"What the hell are you doing here? It's eight in the morning!" she yelled at him.

His brow furrowed. "Is that considered early?"

"Yes! Of course it is!"

Willy shrugged his shoulders and slowly stood up. "Sorry."

"Get the hell out of here!" Anne ordered, pointing at the door.

"What?"

"I said get the hell out of here!"

He was walking towards her, looking her up and down. "Why? I think we should go and get some freshly made coffee," he said, his eyes brightening.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm glad the most trivial of things makes you so pleased."

"Well, doesn't it make you pleased?"

"To be honest, no."

He frowned, looking unconvinced. "I'm sure you don't mean that."

"You have no idea what I mean. Now get out!"

Suddenly, she realized why he was looking her up and down so much. She was wearing one of the large football jerseys Mr. Bucket had lent her. He had obviously intended for her to wear it with pajama pants, but Anne had gotten back so late last night, that she was too tired to take the time to put them on. So now, she was standing before Willy in what looked like a nice pair of lingerie.

Her face heated up immediately and she crossed her arms to cover herself up a bit more. Willy had never seen her like this before.

"Sorry," she said quietly, "I didn't take the time to put on pants last night."

Willy chuckled, but it was awkward and weak. She looked up to see that he wasn't looking at her anymore, but glancing out of the window above the sink. She was pleased to see that he was more uncomfortable than she was at the moment.

"It's okay, really."

Anne could hear the smirk in his tone.

"Well, _maybe, _if _someone_ had informed me that they would be here this morning, I would have the time to change into something more appropriate."

"Hey, I never said I was complaining."

At that, Anne felt a new wave of blush rise to her cheeks and she looked down at her feet. "Well, I'm just going to go change and then I'll be right back."

She turned out of the room as quickly as she could to make her way to the bathroom. _"How embarrassing."_

"Hurry back, number 54," Willy called from behind her.

"Shut up!"

Even when she was in the bathroom, Willy's laughter still managed to make its way to her.

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"So, what are we doing today?"

Willy began his speech like every other one he gave. He held up his hands in excitement, looked at her as if she really cared, and allowed himself to be drowned in every detail and thought of his rant.

As he and Anne walked through white halls that she had never seen before, he talked of the day he had planned out for them. He was saying some words that Anne could understand, but other than that, he was talking like he normally did when talking about his factory: the Einstein of chocolate.

After a while, Anne was lost and didn't realize what he was saying, but she merely nodded and looked just as anxious as he did to do something new today. And, she had to admit, she almost was as excited as him. But she would never admit that.

Finally, she caught onto something she understood.

"Imaginary candy?"

Well, she didn't fully understand, but it sounded interesting.

"Hmm-mmm." Willy's gaze told her that he expected her to know what he was referring to.

"Willy, have you forgotten that I don't work here?"

"Oh!" Willy cried out, laughing. "Of course! I'm sorry!" He laughed again, causing Anne to smile.

"Well, imaginary candy is one of my most secretive inventions, but it's been advertised a lot in local newspapers. I haven't produced mass supplies yet, but I've only let Charlie try a piece."

"And…how did he like it?"

Willy looked at her with a beam. "He said it was one of the greatest experiences of his young life."

"That good?" Anne said teasingly.

"Oh, you're laughing now," Willy stated, holding up his finger, "but by the time you finish the bar of candy, you will have to agree with Charlie."

"There's a problem though."

"And what's that?"

"I have had many more experiences than Charlie and I am sure that they are much more impressive than any ones he had had before tasting this magical, majestic candy."

"Well, don't be so sure. Charlie has had some pretty amazing experiences."

"Such as…?"

Willy snorted. "I don't know: spending his whole life eating my candy, getting one of my golden tickets, every moment he spent in this factory, getting to _live_ in my factory, finding out that he's going to take after me, helping me invent new candies, meeting--."

"Okay!" Anne cried out. Willy looked curiously at her. "I get it."

"That's beside the point. Imaginary candy is just absolutely phenomenal. And it took me _years_ to invent. One of the first projects I started working on when I was younger."

"Really?" Anne asked with true interest.

"Yes! I started it my second year in the factory. I needed a lot of help of course. The Oompa Loompas were up to their ears in work. They were up really late every night, but of course, they were pleased to help. I even had to have Tay--." Willy suddenly cut off, his glowing expression dimming. He quickly looked down at his hands and then back up. "Never mind."

"What were you going to say?" Anne pressed.

"Nothing," Willy said, violently shaking his head. It was as if he was trying to physically shake the memory out of his head.

Anne didn't want to push it, but she was immediately interested in the way Willy had changed. He had gone from animated to sheltered in a second. His face had fallen in every sense of the word. His hands had even gone to the side of his body once more, as if to protect himself from her. He was biting his lip nervously, refusing to meet Anne's gaze.

"Anyway," Anne helped him, "what were you going to tell me about this candy?"

It took a second for him to get back to normal, but his eyes were bright again within moments and his hands began to fly all over the place.

Anne only caught a few small pieces, because for one, Willy was talking as Dr. Chocolate again, and two, she was thinking about what Willy had said before.

He had said, _"I even had to have Tay--."_ Tay…Tay. What/who was Tay? Could it be Taylor? The name of a guy friend of Willy's? But why would that physically hurt him to say that? Oh, wait! Taylor! Like a girl's name! Taylor…Taylor….

Anne tried to push the thought out of her head. It seemed silly to think about it. Could a girl besides Anne ever really be interested in a guy like Willy?

Was that so ridiculous?

No…it wasn't.

Maybe this Taylor girl had been the girl of Willy's dreams. Maybe he had loved her with every part of his being, but she had broken his heart. Or maybe it was a family member, and she was just being paranoid, as Willy always said she was being. Maybe it had been a sister or a cousin, or maybe even his mother. She never took the time to ask him about his family, she suddenly realized, and he could very well have lost someone very important to him. What if this said person had died? What if he had loved them very much and had left him because of his dedication to the factory? Was she being selfish for not asking him about it? Or was she being a good "girlfriend" because she wasn't asking about it?

Again, she shook her head to herself. She was being ridiculous. What if she was just imagining everything? What if he had something else and she had just misheard him?

No, that's not it. You heard it perfectly, her conscience reminded her.

And her conscience was right. He had definitely been about to say a name that started with Tay…

She decided to get back to it later and join in with Willy's current conversation.

"So, are you telling me that I get to try this phenomenal candy?"

Willy smiled. "I sure do."

And he suddenly stopped and held his hands out before him.

Anne looked ahead and saw that they were standing before the smallest door she had seen in the factory. It was the only door in here that looked like a normal door in the real world. It was blank white with the words _Only Personnel_ written on it in digital black lettering.

"You first, my dear," Willy said, leading her forward.

Anne looked at him, looked ahead, and then pushed through the swinging door to see what lay before her.


	14. Author's Note!

Hey, readers! Just so you know, I will DEFINITELY be finishing all my stories. I just lost the ability to write for a while, because of a family issue that took up much of my time. I apologize greatly for this. However, I will continue all of my stories when I get back home from college, which will be near the end of November. Don't give up on me! I'll finish very soon!


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